Recovery and Redemption
by ms. albatross
Summary: The chaos and confusion at President Snow's mansion leads to mistaken identity. Rory's keen observation and intuition solves the mystery but can he go home to District 12 and find love and a peaceful future? He can only hope to make amends for his brother's choices but will Katniss and Peeta let him? Post-Mockingjay/Pre-epilogue. Reviews welcome!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N My reviewers tell me that I've been way to hard on Gale in this story. I actually AGREE with them. I needed a villain and I went overboard. I need to provide some sort of foundation for the character's anger with him. I'm rethinking my plot to make it more credible. **

**This entire story was 90% written before I even started posting and I've been posting one chapter a day. I'm going to finish posting everything I already had written and will come back at a later date to revise the story. Stay tuned. But I hope you can overlook my flaw for now and just enjoy this sweet love story as it is.**

Rory jumps out of his chair after the news broadcast and runs all the way to his brother's office . He doesn't even bother to tuck in his uniform shirt. He stops at the door, out of breath but he follows the military protocol of knocking first and waiting for permission to enter.

After Gale announces," come in," Rory enters and salutes out of habit. Gale briefly glances up from the maps he has been looking at and waives his younger brother toward a chair.

"All packed and ready to go back to District 12?" Gale asks.

Rory has heard over and over how disappointed his brother is about him leaving the military to return home. But his service commitment is over and he longs for home. "Yes, but I have a favor"

"Favor?" Gale responds brusquely.

Rory is used to his brother's condescending tone towards him, and ignores it. He rarely asks for anything from Gale but this is important to him. So he plows ahead with his request.

"Before going home, I want a pass to go the Capitol."

Gale stops studying the maps and looks Rory in the eyes. "The Capitol? You've never had any interest in going there. Why now?"

Rory has to think fast. Gale is right – He's never had any interest in that shallow cesspool of humanity. But he can't tell Gale the real reason. He would forbid this wild goose chase.

"Well, what is it? One last hurrah with the loose ladies of the Capital?" Gale asks snidely. That's what Gale would do. Ever since Katniss chose Peeta, it's been one girl after another for Gale. It was hard to keep up with his flavor of the week. But Rory can't say yes to that. Gale would know it was a lie. That just wasn't his style.

He rubs his nearly shaved head for a moment. Then he notices the photographs on the wall behind his brother's head. They are of turning points in the rebellion. He has a sudden flash of inspiration. "I want to go to the Ministry of Communications."

"Why?"

"Because I want to look through their archives of film and photos of District 12. Most of our district was destroyed and I want to get some historical images to take back with me. Buildings that are gone, people who are gone…."

"But why?"

"I just think it would be nice for the people of our district who are left. Not many people from out district have connections in the Capitol that could get this stuff and you do," he says with conviction – hoping his ruse is persuasive enough.

"This is going to be a pain in my ass…"

"Gale, I never ask you for anything – no special favors – even though you are my commanding officer. I've followed orders, fought in several major battles and helped rebuild District 11. Please?"

Gale fiddles with his maps and finally says, "Fine, I'll get you the travel documents, and permission to get into the Ministry Archives."

Rory is relieved and gets up out of his chair but before he can say thank you, Gale has one request. "If you find any photos of dad, will you make me a copy?" he asks solemnly.

Rory eyes tear up a bit. He hadn't even considered getting photos of their father, who had been killed in a mining accident. They had nothing left of their father after their home was turned into rubble during the rebellion. "You've got it - and thanks a million."

Rory's train is running late to the Capitol. It gives him plenty of time to think about the news broadcast that brought on this spur-of–the-moment trip. It was probably just wishful thinking on his part. But everything in the news story fit. It couldn't all be a coincidence. The flower, the cats, the left hand, the herbs and that one piercing blue eye.

Even if he is wrong, his idea of getting pictures and film of District 12 will be worth the trip. But he will focus on those images after he gets what he came for first.

When the train finally arrives, he rushes to get to the Ministry of Communications so he has enough time to get what he wants before he visits the hospital tomorrow. Gale's connections get him right in the door and he is directed to the archives. After he tells the clerk – as vaguely as possible – what he is searching for, he is given a place to sit and search.

It takes him a while but he finally finds several photos that he needs. He asks the clerk to help make several still images from some film and news broadcasts. He also learns how isolate one person in a group picture, enlarge it and print it out.

His last request strikes the clerk as really odd. "I need a picture of a cat – but not just any cat – it has to be just the right one and I need help altering the image once I find it."

They search through quite a few cat images until Rory finds one that will work and the clerk does the alterations as requested. At the last minute, he also asks for a picture of a white goat. Rory manages to figure how to alter it himself.

He thanks the clerk profusely and tells him that he will be back another day to finish. But Rory has what he originally came for.

As he walks to his lodging, he passes a book store. There is a large display of children's books in the window. He pauses to look at them. Several are classics that bring him back to his school days. He realizes that favorite books from childhood can bring back long forgotten memories.

He goes in and gets the salesgirl to help him find a special book. Luckily they have it in stock. His plan is coming together. Hopefully, it's not all for nothing – besides – if he is wrong - the book will be a good addition to the library at the new school back in District 12.

The following morning is cold and Rory shivers as he stands outside the hospital looking at the huge directory. He's not sure what to look for. Shortly, a security guard approaches. She recognizes Rory's uniform and chitchats with him about his role in the rebellion.

Rory is in a hurry but he realizes that this woman can probably get him to where he is going and get him through some doors that might otherwise be closed to him for security reasons. He knows that he not nearly as tall, handsome or captivating as Gale but he does his best to charm the guard so he can use her as his guide. He pretends that he is going to see a military friend who is on the same floor as the patient he really wants to see.

It works and soon he is in the waiting room of the ward he has been looking for. Luckily the guard has to go back to her duties. Rory sits down because he suddenly feels overwhelmed. What if he is wrong? But then again, what if he is right?

He decides to look through his photos and the book he brought. He remembers the arboretum that was featured in the news broadcast. Maybe he should go down and pick some herbs. But he decides to just find the room. He slowly gets up and wanders through the hall looking at the nametags of the patients in each room.

He finds a tag that says 'Kitty'. That's the nickname the staff has given the patient from the news broadcast. There is a nurse in the room so he hangs out in the hallway pretending to get a drink of water. After she leaves, he looks around and enters the room.

The patient is hooked up to a breathing machine and her face has a lot of bandages, one arm is in traction and one eye is covered with an eye patch . The news broadcast said she had lost an eye. There was some blond hair splayed out on the pillow.

Her eye is closed but the head of her bed is in a partially raised position. He glances around the room. There are pictures of cats on the walls and there are several vases of flowers on the side tables.

What now? He's not sure. He doesn't want to wake her. So he sits down in the chair next to her bed. He puts down his large envelope of pictures on the floor and starts to look through the children's book he purchased the night before.

The machines beep softly and he listens to rhythm of the breathing machine. After a few minutes he decides to get up and try to look at her from another angle. He looks closely at her face but so much of it is covered, it is hard to see the resemblance to the girl he was hoping she would be.

Her eye starts to flutter and Rory steps back and backs into his chair and it scrapes the tile floor. Her eye pops open. It looks like it is trying to focus. Her eye opens wider and then she squints. Rory decides this is the time to talk.

"Hi, I came to read you a story today. I hope that's ok." She blinks once. He assumes that means yes.

"This was one of my favorite books from my childhood. I thought you might have heard it."

He started to read the humorous and heartfelt story of some farm animals who were lost and couldn't find their home. He holds the book up over her face so she can see the whimsical illustrations and does his best to read from that angle.

"I hope you liked it." Her eyes seemed to sparkle. He guessed that she did. "My teacher read this in 1st grade. There was a blond-haired girl in my class who loved that story too. She even wrote about it for weeks during writing time."

"I have some pictures of that girl. Maybe you know who she is." He holds up a series of pictures of the same blond-haired, blued eyed girl. Her kindergarten school picture; a picture of her as a 7 year old in winter coat playing in the snow; another one when she is 10 years old at the District 12 Victor's Parade of the 72nd Hunger Games – two years before Katniss and Peeta were selected as tributes. There are several others including a picture of the girl sitting with her mother being interviewed just before the Quarter Quell.

"I heard you liked cats – that's what they said in the news broadcast – they said they nick-named you Kitty because of that. I brought you a picture of a cat. Maybe you have seen a cat like this?" He pulls the altered photo from the envelope. "The girl I knew had a cat named Buttercup. I couldn't find a picture that cat but I made this from my memories of him in District 13."

A tear welled up in her eye. "Do recognize Buttercup?" He was choked up but managed to get the question out. She blinks once.

"They said you loved the Buttercup song from the morning TV program. But I don't think it was about the song. It was about the name. You love a cat _named_ Buttercup."

Rory doesn't wait for her response and quickly continues. "The girl I remember had a goat. A goat named Lady . I heard she had a pink ribbon around her neck the day she arrived." He shows the goat picture he found.

"I think you are girl who loves animals, a girl who is a healer and loves the smell of healing herbs like they have here in the arboretum. A blue-eyed, left-handed girl." Again she blinks once.

"They think you are one of the Capital orphans that were at the palace on the last day of the rebellion but I believe you're from District 12." She blinks once.

"I have two more pictures for you. This one is Katniss – your sister. She's at home in District 12. This one is your mother. She is working at a hospital in District 4. They both think you died. But you didn't, did you?" She blinks twice.

The girl's eye is filled with tears so Rory looks around and finds some tissues. As he gently wipes the tears, he says, "You're Primrose Everdeen." Her eye blinks fiercely and she even tries to nod her head but it starts some of the machines beeping. She stops and starts looking at him intensely. He can tell that she is trying to figure who he is. He decides this is his cue to leave.

Before he goes, he tapes all the pictures on the walls, and as he does, his eyes fill with tears. He wipes them away and leaves a note on top of the book for the nurse. As he exits, he says "Goodbye Primrose."


	2. Chapter 2

As Rory rides the train home, with his few belongings in one suitcase and another suitcase full of pictures of District 12 that he acquired from the Capitol, he waits for today's news broadcast.

As he does, he thinks back on his memories of Primrose. His first memories are of first grade and her love for that book. He then thinks of that awful day in the Justice Building, just after both of their fathers had died. She was hugging Katniss so tight but she didn't cry like his little brother Vick did.

Then there was their first visit down to the mine in the 4th grade. Her clouded blue eyes told of her grief. He thought he was going to cry so he took her hand as they rode down the elevator. He didn't have to tell why. She held on tight the entire time. I was if they were keeping each other from losing control. When he got home that day, his hand was aching. He realized that it was because she had been gripping it so tight.

He remembered overhearing her telling a friend how scared she was when Katniss took her into the woods and tried to teach her to hunt. He was confused by that because he didn't think she was scared of anything.

Just a few months before, one of their classmates at school had jumped off the railing after being challenged by an older boy. The boy broke his leg and the bone was sticking out. He was hollering and everyone else was coming unglued but not Primrose. She was the first one at his side. She spoke so calmly to him but was ordering everyone else around. "Thomas, go get the teacher. Sarah, go get my mother. Lyle give me your jacket." She seemed so shy at school. But not in this situation. She was in charge.

Then there was the reaping for the 74th Games. It was the first time his name was in the drawing – the same as Primrose. He wasn't standing very far away when her name was called. He could see her face as she hesitated before starting to walk up to the podium. It reminded him of that day going down that elevator into the mine. He wished he could hold her hand to support her as she walked up. After Katniss volunteered, it was agonizing to hear her screaming her sister's name.

Later that year, she came to Rory's house to check on Gale after his whipping at the hands of the head peacekeeper. He just remembered her soothing voice when speaking to Gale and her gentle way of working on those awful lashmarks on his back. It was hard for Rory to look at them, let alone touch them.

Their families often ate at the same table at District 13 but they had different schedules. She was going to be a doctor. Rory was being trained to be a soldier. They had high hopes for him but he wasn't the leader and firebrand that Gale was. He was just ok.

He remembered dancing with her at Finn and Annie's wedding. Her laugh was contagious and her blue eyes sparkled.

As he tried to pull up more memories of Primrose, the news broadcast started. First they show the recap of the broadcast that he had seen a week ago. It was a last ditch effort to find the identity of the girl. They hoped a distant family member , neighbor or friend would come forward with information.

The mysterious unidentified girl who was so badly injured at the palace on the last day of the rebellion in the Capitol. The girl who had been in a medically induced coma for months. The girl, who when she finally woke up six months ago, had no memories. The girl who reacted happily every time she saw a picture of a cat but who reacted negatively every time a picture of the now-defunct Hunger Games was shown. The girl who loved the smell of herbs whenever they would roll her bed down to the Arboretum. The girl who tried to hum along to the Buttercup song on the morning children's program. The left-handed girl with the blond hair, one striking blue eye but an unrecognizable face. The girl who wasn't getting better because of her deep depression about her condition.

The news broadcaster breathlessly gives the update to the story. "It's all such a mystery! Someone left pictures and a note with the identity of the mystery girl. No one knows who did it. Everyone hopes he or she will step forward. Her doctors are amazed that her memory and her will to live are so quickly returning to her, now that she knows who she is and that her mother and famous sister, Katniss Everdeen are alive and looking forward to seeing her. That's right, the Mockingjay's sister is alive and well."

As he turns off the news broadcast, he knows that he is never going to tell anyone that he is the one who solved the mystery. He desperately hopes no one ever figures it out.

It makes him happy that her memory is back and her medical recovery is speeding up. He is thankful that he has been able to provide the pictures needed to reconstruct her face as it was. He is even more thrilled that it was a Hawthorne that brought those to her. Since some people believed that another Hawthorne was the one responsible for her previously believed death and now, her current medical condition. She has only one eye, no spleen, one damaged kidney, a badly damaged arm that may or may not recover and who knows what else is wrong.

Right now, he just wants to go back to District 12. He wants to try some of the farming methods he learned about in District 11. He wants to build himself a house and get on with life. He is just apprehensive about seeing Katniss and Peeta. He always liked them both but he is a Hawthorne and that just has too many bad associations for them. He doesn't blame them. It just saddens him.

When the train arrives in District 12, he goes directly to the tent city they have set up for returning residents who haven't built their homes yet. He avoids going past the bakery or Victory Village. He sees some familiar faces along the way and stops to greet them. Some people don't quite recognize him. He's grown several inches and filled out since he joined the rebellion forces. His hair is much shorter. Once they figure out who he is, they hug him and wish him well and offer to help him build his house when the time comes.

After getting a tent assignment, he immediately goes to the new District 12 Hall of Justice. He wants to get his land allotment sorted out. He requests an allotment that is on the outskirts of town – not the lot their previous house was on. He wants to do some farming and raise animals and needs a larger space to do that. They agree, as long he builds a house for his mother and younger brother and sister on the same land if they decide to come back. He agrees. They are planning to come back.

As he walks back to his tent, he thinks of Primrose and wonders when, or if, she will come back. He assumes she will come back to live with Katniss - not with her mother in District 4. She was happy here and had her work as a healer and could keep her animals. I doubt she could do that in the center of the main city in District 4 near her mother's hospital. But she probably has a lot more recovering to do before anything is decided.

His house, small barn and chicken coop go up quickly and the chicks he ordered arrive safe and sound. He plans to raise chickens, goats, rabbits and bees. While he waits for the seeds he ordered from District 11 to arrive, he goes to the meadow and woods to find wild berries and vegetables that he can transplant into his garden. He enjoys the quiet time.

He's heard that Katniss sometimes hunts in the woods. He prays that he doesn't run into her. Rumor has it that she is not emotionally stable. He'd hate to be in woods if she had a breakdown from seeing a Hawthorne.

Not many months after that, his neighbor, Mrs. Flannery, informs him that it has been decided that Primrose will be coming to live with Katniss. That is when he decides to go back to the meadow to find herbs for an herb garden. He decides to create both a medicinal and culinary bed. He orders more seeds to fill out his herb selection. If she goes back to being a healer, maybe he can provide her with some herbs to start. Of course, he won't give them to her himself. That wouldn't be appropriate. He'll ask Mrs. Flannery to give them to her.

There are many town gatherings and home building parties. Rory always finds out before hand if Katniss or Peeta are going to be there. He is trying to keep a wide berth. But they rarely show up to anything. Peeta sees people when they come to the bakery to buy things but doesn't go to many community events. Katniss stays home or hunts in the woods but nothing else. But soon his chickens will be laying eggs. He can sell them to the market but he would like to be able to sell some to the bakery as well. A bakery uses a lot of eggs. Maybe Mrs. Flannery can act as go between. She is going to be busy!


	3. Chapter 3

As Rory quickly walks to the market with small cart full of eggs and goat milk, in the distance, he sees someone pushing a wheelchair. He doesn't think much of it until they get a little closer. He realizes that the blond man pushing the chair is Peeta. He can't tell who is in the chair from this distance but he has no doubt it's Primrose. He doesn't think they have seen him yet. He leaves his cart and ducks into a yard amongst the laundry that is hanging on the line to dry.

As he waits for them pass, he wonders why they are going down this street. This isn't the most direct way to Katniss' house. Then it dawns on him. They are going down this street for the same reason he is. This is one of the flattest streets in town and is easiest to push something with wheels on. Peeta will go as far as he can on this street and then turn onto the side street leading to Katniss' house that has uneven ground and potholes. He does the same thing when he is on the way to the market.

He tries to peek through the sheets as they pass to see if he can see Primrose. He sees the eye patch and face full of scars still healing from the reconstructive surgery. Her arm is in a sling. Someone has done a beautiful job styling her hair with cascades of blond curls partially pulled back with a blue satin ribbon. She turns her head back to talk to Peeta and he sees the sparkling blue eye and he hears her laugh. She looks surprisingly well. He is mesmerized watching her pass and hearing her laughter. Her voice sounds a little horse. Probably from all those months on a breathing machine. He wishes he could greet her. That isn't going to happen. That depresses him.

After they turn down the side street, he emerges from his hiding place and slowly trudges toward the market. He'll ask Mrs. Flannery to take a basket full of medicinal herbs to Prim later this week – after she is all settled in. While he walks a girl he knows runs up to walk with him.

"Hi Arlette," he says quietly.

"Hi, Rory!" She says quite enthusiastically and then she giggles. "Are you going to market?"

Of course he is going to market. She's not the brightest bulb. "Yes," he answers, and to be polite, he adds, "where are you going?"

"To my friend Dorcus' house. She is going to try some new make-up on me." She giggles some more. She adds, "are you going to the town festival and dance tomorrow night? I really want to dance with you."

He wants to gag. He and Arlette are almost the same age but she acts like she is 12 and her head seems to be very empty. But his mother always taught him to be polite. "I'm not sure - but if I do, I'll make sure to save a dance for you. "

She giggles again and runs up the stairs of Dorcus Mayhew's house.

He thinks about their encounter. He can't imagine himself with a vapid girl like that. No substance. All make-up and giggles. It's a good think he doesn't mind spending time alone. He may have to live alone if the only option is a girl like that. Other girls have expressed an interest in him since he's been back but none have tempted him. Growing up without a father and fighting in the rebellion forced him to mature fast. Maybe the girls will catch-up to him someday.

As he walks, his thoughts go back to Primrose. What could he do to welcome her back? – without her knowing, of course. He decides that he will deliver his first baby goat to Primrose – in the middle of the night , of course. She'll have a ribbon tied around her neck - just like the one that Katniss and Gale got for her long before the reaping for the 74th Hunger Games. That thought cheers him up a bit and he picks up his pace going to the market.

XXXXXX

In the last six months, Rory has grown his menagerie of animals. He's trapped several rabbits and is now breeding them for meat. His beehives are producing honey. His chickens supply mostly eggs, but some go to market plucked and ready to fry. His goats provide milk and his vegetable garden is going crazy. The strawberries are to die for – so sweet. He is nurturing his fruit trees along. It will be several years before they are producing a significant amount.

He's also done a good job of avoiding Peeta and Katniss. Katniss is easy to avoid. She spends most of her time at home or hunting. But Peeta is a little harder to dodge. But Rory knows his routines and works around them. Mrs. Flannery sells his eggs to him – without his knowledge, of course. She passes the eggs off as hers. He gets his money and fresh bread every week and she gets her cut for doing it.

Unfortunately, by avoiding Katniss and Peeta, he is avoiding Primrose as well. Without being seen, he did manage to leave his first female kid – with a pink ribbon around her neck , of course. He knows her scars have almost healed and her arm is out of the sling. She has set up a clinic of sorts next door to Peeta's bakery. Mrs. Flannery has been bringing her the herbs that Rory grows. He's seen her at the market a few times but he always finds a place to hide and observe from a distance

The district doctor has gladly dumped most of his baby delivery business on Primrose. She's become quite the mid-wife. Thousands of people died during the rebellion and the capitol is providing incentives to couples to marry and have children. Every child brings a new incentive. With the increase in food supplies and quality of life, many couples are taking the plunge.

Every time she delivers a baby, the family gives her a beautifully embroidered eye patch. She has a collection now. Different colors and designs – each one unique to the family that gives it. But she still does other types of healing, but all under the watchful eye of Peeta.

Rory awakes early one morning to a racket coming from his chicken coop. Some sort of varmint is attacking his hens. His arrival prompts the intruder's swift departure. Rory inspects the coop and finds the hole where the creature entered. He also finds two dead hens. He temporarily covers the hole and disposes of the dead birds. Then he finds his best mother hen injured. She was probably protecting the chicks. Luckily, all the chicks seem fine. He brings the injured hen into the house and puts her in a box with a blanket. He decides to bring in the eggs she has been sitting on for hatching and the newest chicks and puts them in another box under a lamp.

He doesn't think the hen is going to make it. She seems to have an awful scratch on her belly. If she doesn't survive, he's not sure if his chicks will survive. She mothers and protects all of them and she was going to hatch the new eggs. She seems to be the only one with that instinct. He really needs her and besides, he has grown kind fond of her. He's not sure what to do. There is no animal doctor here. She clucks pathetically.

After he milks the goats, he makes decision and grabs the box with the hen in it and heads into town. He goes around the block so he can approach Primrose's clinic without passing by Peeta's bakery windows. She's not there yet, so he goes around to the side of the building and sits down on the ground to wait. He doesn't want to wait in front because he can smell bread baking and knows Peeta is probably at work. He is uncomfortable sitting there with his shirt tucked and tugging at his neck so he pulls it out from the waistband.

He pets his hen's head and then leans his head back against the building and closes his eyes. He must have dozed off because he is awakened by the sound of her voice. "Who have we got here? Oh, you're hurt. Ouch," she says in a quiet soothing voice as she pets the hen's head.

Rory jumps up and hits his head on the window frame. "Ouch!" He grabs his head and thinks that he is such an idiot. What a way to greet her.

"Are you ok?" She asks.

All he can do is stare at her eye – her one beautiful, sparkling eye. She moves closer to make sure he is all right but he finally speaks. "Yeah, fine." But his head is killing him. "I was hoping maybe you could help me with my hen. Something got into my coop last night."

"Well, I don't normally treat animals but I'll see what I can do. Let's go inside."

Her blond ponytail bobs in front of him as he follows her inside. He's glad she doesn't ask why he wasn't waiting out front on the porch. He quickly tries to tuck in the wrinkled bottom edge of his shirt into his work pants and tries to smooth out the hair on the back on his head. It feels like it is sticking out funny because of the way he had his head leaning up against the building while he was dozing.

She takes the box and puts it on a table and gently takes out the hen. "What's your name little chickadee?" she asks softly.

"Actually, her name is Mrs. Chickadee." Rory says.

"Mrs. Chickadee? Like from the children's story?" Prim asks looking up at him quizzically.

Uh oh! Big mistake. "Um, yeah." He thinks fast. "My neighbor's granddaughter named her that."

"Oh. I used to love that story when I was little."

He thinks, yeah, I know. He changes the subject. "I heard you got a goat." He is dying to hear her reaction to his gift.

"Yes, funny you should mention that. I named her Mrs. Billygilly – from the same story as Mrs. Chickadee. Someone gave me the book as a gift. I thought it was the perfect name for her."

"Mrs. Billygilly," he acknowledges. That book sure made an impression on her. But he gets back to the business at hand. "Do you think you can help my chicken? She's my best mother hen and I really need her."

Prim doesn't answer right away as she carefully examines the hen. Rory notices the soft wool sweater she is wearing and he admires how it clings in all the right places. Finally she speaks, "This cut is long but fortunately, it is not very deep. I think we can work with this."

Rory flashes a great big smile as she looks up. She stares at him and squints a bit. "You look familiar. Do I know you?"

His smile immediately leaves his face. The million dollar question. It was going to come up eventually so he takes a deep breath and says. "I'm Rory. " He decides not to include the dreaded last name. "I went to school with you."

She continues to look at him – a bit perplexed. Then recognition sets in. She grins big. It's a little crooked – probably because of all the reconstructive surgeries but it is cute. "Rory!" She gently puts the hen back in her box and comes over to hug him. This is a surprising turn of events for Rory. She seems genuinely happy to see him.

Rory feels his face beginning to flush and the warm feelings travel everywhere. He almost feels like he is receiving a small electrical charge – but in a good way. Primrose just continues to hold on tight so he holds on too. Her hair is so shiny. He wants to touch it but decides against it.

When she finally lets go, she is full of questions. "Why haven't I seen you around town before? Did you just get here? How have you been? How's your mother?"

Another million dollar question –'why haven't I seen you around town?' How was he going to answer that?

Replying to that question is suddenly easy when he hears Peeta at the back door calling Primrose's name. Rory quickly whispers, "that's why," as he points toward the back door. He starts backing up to make a quick getaway out the front door.

Primrose grabs his hand and then puts her finger to her lips and says "shhhhhh." She guides him to a nearby closet and closes the door on him.

He can hear her opening the back door and she goes outside to talk to Peeta. He can't hear their conversation but she comes back within two minutes and opens the closet door. "The coast is clear," she says as she takes his hand and guides him to a couch to sit down. "He just wants me to stop by the market later for something."

She picks up one of his hands and holds it on both of her hands and looks him right in the eye. "You've been hiding from Peeta?" she asks softly.

Rory just nods yes.

"And Katniss too?"

"Yes, they hate Gale and I'm Gale's brother – a Hawthorne." He bows his head down to disconnect from her gaze. He stares at the hem of her skirt that comes just below her knees. It has a girlish ruffle – so feminine. The opposite of Katniss – who rarely wears anything but hunting pants.

"So, you've avoided me too?"

"I would think you would hate Gale the most of all – especially if he really did what Katniss believes he did to you."

"DID Gale do that to me and all those other innocent children?"

"I honestly don't know. He claims that he didn't, but I'm not sure whether to believe him or not." He squeezes her hands gently as he raises his head to look at her again. He doesn't tell her that he got a transfer to District 11 after that - to avoid being near Gale. There was a big part of him that believed that he was capable of doing it. But after the reconstruction in District 11, he was transferred back to Gale's command in District 2.

"Did you think_ I_ would hate you?"

"I think that my presence would bring back bad memories and keep you from moving forward with your life. And look at you. You are moving forward. Your body is recovering. You seem to be in good spirits. I think you're doing much better than Peeta and Katniss. I've heard about his flashbacks and her nightmares."

"You're right. I am doing much better. My ordeal was difficult but it pales in comparison to what they lived through."

"I'm glad you are better," he whispers.

"Thanks."

"Do I bring back bad memories?" he asks hesitantly.

"Just the opposite. So many people from District 12 are gone. Seeing you reminds me of good things - school and friends and our childhood." She continues. "We've also shared some sorrows. We did both lose our fathers in a mining accident. We both lost our childhood homes. We both lost a part of a sibling to the rebellion. Katniss has lost her heart and Gale has probably lost his soul. We've lost our innocence but I don't think either one of us has lost our will to live or our hope for a better future."

He doesn't know why but he hugs Primrose again and says, "To a better future."

They talk like old friends for a while. He tells her about his mother who is in District 2 training to become a seamstress , about his younger siblings, about his little farm, about his time in District 11 learning about farming. He tells her everything except how glad he is that she is glad to see him. Their reunion is interrupted by an expectant mother who has come to see Primrose so Rory leaves his hen in her care.


	4. Chapter 4

Two days later, as Rory is cleaning out his goat pen, he turns around to see Primrose with Mrs. Chickadee. But Primrose looks pale.

"Thank you. You didn't have to come all the way out here. I was going to come check on her today." He wants to hug her but he is sweaty and probably has farm animal stink on him.

"I wanted to see your place." She says anemically.

"You look terrible. Here sit down on this hay bale while I go put Mrs. Chickadee into her newly reinforced coop."

"Ok," she says weakly.

Rory quickly puts his healing hen back in her home and guides Primrose to his house. He immediately tries to remember if he has left the living room a mess. He's relieved when he opens the door for his guest and it looks reasonably clean – for a bachelor.

"Sit down. I'll get you something cold to drink."

He quickly gets the drink and gets a clean rag and runs it under the cool water so she can put it up to her forehead.

"You shouldn't have walked all the way out here – especially all by yourself." He scolds her.

"You're probably right. I thought I could handle it. I forget that I am still recovering," she says quietly and adds a little angrily, "I'm getting tired of recovering."

He's a little surprised by this show of anger. He holds the washcloth up to her forehead while she sips her water. It isn't long before she starts getting her color back and her good spirits.

"So Farmer John, can you show me around the ole homestead?" she asks with a smile.

Rory plays along "Well, I reckon so, ma'am."

He shows her the goat pen, the chicken coop, beehives and garden area. As they walk back to the house, she notices spiral garden beds off to the backside of the house. "You didn't show me those."

Rory panics a little. He was hoping she would miss that. He stammers, "Uh, they're nothing – not important."

But Primrose walks back there anyway. She stops in her tracks and stares. Slowly she walks around the spirals examining several plants and smelling others.

"You're growing herbs?"

"I sell the culinary ones to the market."

"But a lot of these are medicinal herbs. What do you do with them?"

Rory doesn't answer. He just stares at the ground and watches as his foot makes designs in the dirt. She watches too and waits for an answer.

She finally says, "You've been giving these to Mrs. Flannery to bring to my clinic haven't you?"

His silence is her answer.

She looks over in the direction of the goat pen and then she grabs him by the hand and directs him to grassy spot under a tree to sit. "Did you leave me the goat too?"

Again his silence is her answer.

"Why? Are you feeling guilty about Gale's actions and trying to make up for them? You don't have to do that you know. That's not your obligation."

"Maybe I was feeling a little guilty but that isn't the main reason why I did it."

"Well…"

"I just wanted you to feel welcome, to feel wanted, to feel…."

"To feel what?"

"Not lonely." Rory eyes get a little watery and he looks off to the side.

"Are you lonely?" She gently grabs his chin and pulls it back towards her.

He looks into that wise eye and responds, "A little." His gaze quickly goes down. She lets go of his chin.

"I get it. No family here. Working and living alone. Doing your best to avoid Peeta and Katniss keeps you confined. Is that it?"

She's hit it right on the head. Rory couldn't have said it better himself.

She is silent for a while. "Have you gone out with any girls here?"

"No. The District 12 girls just seem so, so… insipid – all make-up and giggles. The District 13 girls are more serious but they just don't get why I want to be a farmer. They all are working at the factory or other office bound jobs. They grew up living such regimented lives."

Primrose nods her head. "That makes sense."

She lays her head on his shoulder. They just sit quietly for a few minutes listening to bees buzz and the soft bleating of the goat kids and they watch the breeze fluttering the leaves and stems of the herbs.

Finally Rory says, "What about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Have you gone out with any guys since you've been home?" He hopes the answer is no

"Even though Peeta is not even married to Katniss, he acts as if he is my father. He would scare off anyone who might look at me twice. Not that anyone does. Do you think there are really guys who want to go out with the one-eyed Cyclops with the certifiably crazy sister who has a history with lethal weapons?" She laughs but to Rory, it sounds a little forced

"Do you believe that is what people really think of you?"

"I think they like me well enough especially when they need medical assistance but none of the girls are interested in being my friend and none of the guys want to go out with me."

"I guess we're just a couple of misfits - with just our animals to talk to."

They sit silently for another couple of minutes. Then they hear a commotion in front of Rory's house.

"Rory….RORY…are you here Rory?" Mrs. Flannery calls out urgently.

"I'm coming." He helps Primrose to her feet and they hurry around to the front of the house.


	5. Chapter 5

Rory and Primrose turn the corner and see two women in their 50's, a woman in her 20's and a little girl.

"Rory, you know Mrs. Pakinnow and her daughter Seidy from down the road?" 21 year old Seidy starts leaning forward and puts her hands on her knees and is breathing rapidly. She looks uncomfortable.

"Yes, of course. What can I do for you?"

Before Mrs. Flannery can answer, Primrose asks, "Are you ok Seidy? Do you need to sit down?"

Mrs. Pakinnow speaks for her daughter. "She's had a terrible back ache since last night and she's been having awful cramps all afternoon."

Mrs. Flannery says, "Rory, I was hoping you could go into town to get the doctor."

Primrose interrupts, "The doctor is not in town today. He goes to the far side of the district one day a week. But I'll be glad to take a look at her. Bring her inside."

Mrs. Pakinnow looks at Mrs. Flannery. "It's ok, dear. She has lots of experience as healer. She's your best bet until the doctor returns."

"Take her into the bedroom. Rory, can you show this young lady the goats?" Primrose smiles at the girl.

The little girl looks at Mrs. Flannery. "Is it ok, Grandma?" She nods her head.

"Please Rory, can I see your goats? Have any of your eggs hatched yet? I want to see the chicks too."

"Hey, Rory, don't forget to show her how Mrs. Chickadee is." She bends down to eye level with the girl. "You are the one who named her Mrs. Chickadee aren't you?"

"Mrs. Chickadee?" The girl looks confused. "I've never gotten to name any of Rory's chickens." She turns to Rory. "Rory, can I name all your new chicks, please?"

"Of course!" He picks up the girl and easily swings her up onto his shoulders as they walk toward the goat pen. The girl giggles up a storm.

Primrose meets Seidy in the bedroom and leaves the two older women in the living room. It isn't long before she comes back out and tells the women she needs some herbs from the garden. She gets Mrs. Flannery alone for a minute and explains the situation and they hatch a quick plan. She calls Rory over and speaks to him privately.

"Can you go into town and get someone to give Peeta this note, letting him know that I am with a patient and I won't be returning home tonight?"

"Sure I can figure something out. Do you think it is something bad? Do I need to send someone for the doctor?"

"No, I can handle this but I have one more thing for you to do. Can you go out to Potter's Road and find the house where a man from District 13 named Luhan is living?"

"I guess. What do you want me to do when I find him?"

"Bring him back here. But don't say anything to Mrs. Pakinnow. Ok?"

Rory is confused but he does as he is asked. He is quickly able to find a discreet person to drop off the note at the bakery but he has a hard time finding Luhan. They don't arrive at the house until well after dark.

"Seidy?" Luhan yells when they come inside. But there isn't an answer .

"Primrose?" Rory yells.

Mrs. Flannery opens the bedroom door. "Oh, Luhan you were two minutes too late. You missed it!"

"Is Seidy all right?" he asks in a panic.

"Oh, she's just fine and so is your son."

Seidy finally speaks, "Luhan, come and see. He's so beautiful. He looks just like you."

Luhan looks stunned.

"We'll leave you three alone." Primrose says as she shoos Rory and Mrs. Flannery out of the room.

"What the hell?" says Rory.

Primrose laughs. She explains that Seidy and Luhan were a couple for a while but when Mrs. Pakinnow found out, she put a stop to it. Seidy's older brothers and sisters were able to put their foot down with their mother's unreasonable demands but Seidy didn't have as strong of a backbone as they did.

The girl was a bit naïve and didn't know much about pregnancy. Mrs. Pakinnow kept her pretty sheltered. She just thought she was gaining weight from the better food they had been getting. Mrs. Flannery took her mother to her house on a ruse to get something for Primrose and she tricked her into taking a sedative. She's still sleeping it off at Mrs. Flannery's house.

"She's not going to be happy about this. She'll probably kick Seidy out of the house. We're hoping Luhan still loves the girl and will take her and the baby home." Says Mrs. Flannery.

A few minutes later, a dazed Luhan enters the room and says he is going to go and borrow a cart and a horse to take Seidy home with him tonight – before her mother wakes up.

"Is that wise?" asks Rory.

"It's warm tonight. She came through labor really well and I don't see any danger. I think it will be more difficult for her recovery if she has to deal with her mother's rage."

The new father leaves and Rory deals with his evening farm chores.

It isn't long before Luhan arrives with the cart and his brother. Mrs. Flanery and her granddaughter decide to walk back with them as far as their house. Before the little girl leaves, Primrose whispers in her ear. The little girl shakes her head no. Rory hears the tail end of their conversation. "Well then, I'm going to have to read that book to you someday. It's one of my favorites."

After everyone leaves, Rory offers to make Primrose something to eat. She is starving and agrees. They eat and talk and laugh and finally sit exhausted on the couch.

"I'm too tired to walk home tonight. Can I sleep here on the floor?"

"Of course, you can stay. But I'll sleep on the couch and you can sleep on the bed."

"I'm afraid no one is sleeping on the bed tonight. It's a bit of a mess. I'll clean it up in the morning but I'm too tired to do it now. I'll sleep on the floor. You take the couch."

Of course Rory won't hear anything of the sort. So Primrose ends up on the couch and Rory makes a place on the floor next to the couch.

As they both lay in the dark, Primrose asks Rory a question. "It was you, wasn't it?"

"Huh?" responds an exhausted Rory.

"In the Capitol?"

Rory panics. No one was supposed to find out - certainly not Primrose herself. "The Capital?"

Primrose continues, "It was all very fuzzy. I was so medicated. But it was you who brought the book and the pictures and gave me back my identity, wasn't it?"

His silence is her answer.


	6. Chapter 6

It was nice waking up and having someone there with him in the house. Yesterday's conversation about loneliness had hit home.

Rory gets up first and finishes washing up as Primrose sits up on the couch and stretches.

She checks on Mrs. Chickadee and gathers eggs while he milks the goats. They make breakfast together. They laugh and talk but they never speak about the Capitol. No one else will ever know about that unless she is the one to tell.

While Rory fills up his market cart, Primrose cleans up the bedroom and washes the linens. They work together to hang them up to dry. They then slowly walk into town together. He insists that they stop every so often to let her rest so she won't get so exhausted like yesterday.

They walk up the flat road toward the market and then say their goodbyes at the intersection that leads to Katniss' house.

As he walks toward the market, he realizes that the last 24 hours were probably the best day of his life. He had spent it with a young woman who was smart, funny, intuitive, strong and had a true purpose in life. But he also realizes that they can never be more than friends. But friendship was something he could live with for now.

Rory finds ways to nuture this friendship. He's figured out that Peeta comes to bakery early in the morning to bake bread but leaves before noon. Primrose tells him that Peeta eats lunch with Katniss if she's is around. But he takes a nap afterwards because he doesn't get much sleep at night. He comes back to the bakery late in the afternoon to get in a little more work and lock up.

So Rory plans his market visits to coincide with Peeta's afternoon absence. At first he finds excuses to visit at the lunch hour. To bring her herbs from his garden; or a spinach salad to raise her iron levels to help with her tiredness; to get an opinion on a new variety of tomato he is growing. But it isn't long before he stops trying to find pretexts for coming by.

He just shows up with lunch for both of them and they eat together. He's noticed that she doesn't schedule any patients right before his arrival. It seems like she doesn't want any patient delays to interrupt their daily ritual.

Some days she's not there because she is off delivering a baby. It ruins his day when he walks by and sees the big white sign in the window – CLOSED.

Primrose seems to be in his neighborhood more often as well. Checking on Mrs. Flannery's arthritis and seeing Mrs. Pakinnow about her ulcers. These complaints don't seem to warrant a home visit from Primrose and Rory is not complaining and neither are his neighbors.

She stops by to see his goats, to get some honey or to get some vegetables for dinner. But she lingers and they often end up under the shade of that tree near the herb beds. He always walks her back to town. She seems to be able to walk out to the farm now without getting fatigued but he worries about her and makes sure she takes rests as they walk back.

One day as they are walking home, out of the blue Primrose asks Rory, "Do you want to have kids, someday?"

Rory has a gut feeling that this question is more than just a casual inquiry between friends. But he does know that he wants children someday so he answers honestly, "Yes."

"How many?"

"I'm not sure. At least two, I think. Maybe more." He's not sure if he should ask her back but after a minute of silence he does. "How about you?"

"The doctors said I probably won't be able to have any." The tone in her voice is beyond sad. Rory is stunned. Here's a woman who spends a good part of her life bringing babies into the world and she can't have any of her own.

He looks over sees a tear running down her cheek. He stops and hugs her tight. He decides that platitudes like 'maybe you can adopt' or 'maybe the doctors are wrong' aren't the right thing to say. 'I'm sorry' doesn't seem adequate – almost lame. There's probably nothing to say. The worst part is, it's possible, that his own brother is at fault.

He's still hugging her when he hears, "I've never told anyone that before – not my mom, not Katniss."

He pulls back and looks at her. Just when he thinks he couldn't be any more stunned, she's added another layer.

"That's so personal – so private. Why are you telling me?"

She looks down and whispers, "Because I like you."

"You like Mrs. Flannery, and you like Mr. Friedman at the market and Harlan at the library. You love your mom and Katniss. Why didn't you tell any of them? Why me? Why now?"

"Because I think I'm falling in love with you. I think you feel same way. If so, then you have the right to know. We can stop all of this right now. I'll be sad and I'll miss you but I couldn't bear to take this any further if my inability to have children was a deal-breaker."

"Look at me." Rory pulls her chin up and stares into her eye. "Of course, I'm falling in love with you. But I always believed that my last name was the ultimate deal-breaker here."

"It wasn't for me."

"Well, not having kids isn't a deal-breaker for me either." Rory really means this. He knows he'd be lucky to have this woman - children or not. And those platitudes that he didn't offer up to her earlier aren't just platitudes but a real possibility. They really could adopt. Or maybe the doctors are wrong. But even if children never came their way, he knew he could be happy with just her.

He hugs her again and decides to lighten the mood, "Primrose, do you want to be my girlfriend?"

She laughs and says, "Yeah, let's go steady and we'll go to the 8th grade dance." Rory laughs at her sense of humor.

He lifts her chin up and kisses her lightly, sweetly. This is a day to remember. They start to walk hand in hand back into town.

"Why do you always call me Primrose? Everybody else just shortens it to Prim."

"Because Prim just doesn't seem to suit you. It sounds so….so," Rory has a hard time coming up with a word. "It sounds so harsh. Primrose has a nice ending. Rose. It just seems to be you."

Primrose doesn't say anything for a minute. "My dad used to call me Rosie. He would make up little songs about his little Rosie. It was our special thing."

They walk in silence for a minute. Then she says, "I think it should be our special thing too. From now on, to you, I'm Rosie."

Rory stops and kisses her. "I love you, Rosie."


	7. Chapter 7

Rory is elated at the turn of events in his relationship with Primrose. He's not in a financial position to marry her so he is content with just keeping their relationship as is – and for keeping it quiet. But she is hell-bent on telling Katniss and Peeta and everyone else for that matter.

He holds her off for a few months but she finally puts her foot down and demands he have a face-to-face with her sister and Peeta. So they go over to Katniss' house late in the afternoon just before Peeta is expected. He's a nervous wreck. He's not sure what to expect.

"Katniss!" Primrose calls up the stairs. "Katniss, come down here I need to talk to you."

Rory and Primrose stand behind the couch waiting for some acknowledgement. None is coming. Primrose storms up the stairs and pounds on her sister's bedroom door. "Get up and get downstairs, Katniss. I need to talk to you now!" Rory sees that rare flash of anger out of Primrose.

Rory could hear Katniss' profane-filled response all the way downstairs but Primrose keeps pounding on her door. "Peeta will be here soon and I need to talk to both of you so get up, get dressed and get your butt downstairs. By the way, I have a boyfriend."

Primrose bounds down the stairs with a little grin on her face. Rory doesn't think anything is funny here. "Are you sure you should have said that?"

"Yep. It got her out of bed. She's getting dressed right now. Never underestimate Katniss' overdeveloped sense of protectiveness towards her family."

He had never underestimated that. He just felt they ought to ease into this whole boyfriend thing gradually.

Katniss comes down the stairs and sits down in an easy chair. Primrose says, "Katniss this is my boyfriend."

Katniss barely glances at him and doesn't acknowledge him. It is obvious that she doesn't know who he is. "How long have you known him?"

Primrose looks at Rory. She wasn't exactly sure how long they had actually known each other. He whispers in her ear.

"Since the first grade."

"How long have you been dating and how come I didn't know about it?"

"A while. And if it was any of your business, you would have known about it."

Peeta walks in. He immediately goes to Katniss and gets down on his knee and speaks softly to her and gets up and kisses her on the head. His love for her is so evident. It's actually quite moving.

Peeta turns around and sees Primrose and Rory. His eyes narrow and his face starts to get red. Rory is stunned by the complete the 180 degree change of expression on Peeta's face. Love to hatred.

"What is he doing here?" Peeta demands. "I do _not_ want him in this house!"

Primrose responds , "First of all, this is Katniss' house, not yours. I live here and I can have guests over if I want."

Peeta turns to Katniss and speaks calmly to her. Again, that 180 degree turn. How does he do that? "Do you want this Hawthorne in your house?"

Rory is surprised that Peeta knows who he is. He hasn't spoken to Peeta since he has been home and most people didn't recognize him when he first arrived because he had grown and changed so much during his time away.

"His name is Rory and he's my boyfriend." Primrose continues defiantly. This girl can hold her own!

Katniss doesn't say anything. But she shifts her gaze to him and doesn't stop staring. It unnerves Rory. He remembers when Primrose described her sister as certifiably crazy and an expert with lethal weapons. Yikes!

Primrose tries a different tact. She goes and kneels directly in front of her sister and almost whispers. "Kat, I love you. I want nothing but happiness for you. But I hope that you want the same for me. Rory is a good man. He loves me. He loves me even though I only have one eye. He loves me despite the fact that I get tired easily. He loves me because I love animals almost as much as he does. He was the one who left Mrs. Billygilly for me when I returned home from the Capitol."

Katniss' gaze has never left Rory. She slowly rises and suddenly spits at Rory. Rory jumps. She slowly sits back down again without removing her eyes from Rory.

Primrose ignores this display. Rory decides to follow Primrose's lead and ignore it too. She continues with her plea. "Kat, you have an amazing man in Peeta. He loves you without reservation. He was willing to die for you. He was tortured for you and he survived so he could be reunited with you. Yet, you haven't even married him. He'd take you down the Hall of Justice right now if you said yes."

Rory notices that Peeta is nodding his head in agreement with Primrose.

"He spends almost every night with you comforting you through your nightmares, yet you have never made love to him even once."

Katniss speaks . "How do you know that?"

"I just know. Listen Kat. Love is precious. You should grab every moment of happiness you can. You should know that better than anyone."

Peeta kneels down next to Primrose and takes Katniss' hand.

"You should marry this man. You should thank your lucky stars you're still together. You should make love to him every night and revel in the closeness that it brings to your relationship. You should have a baby someday. A little girl. Name her Rue and celebrate every moment with your husband and your baby. That's what I hope for you. I want to play with my niece and hope that your child is enough to fill up my heart because the doctors say I may never be able to have a baby of my own."

A tear slides down Katniss's cheek. Rory is quite moved by Primrose's speech and Katniss' tear.

"Katniss, Rory is not Gale. He is nothing like Gale. He's a farmer – not a fighter. He has a tender heart and he has a place in his heart for me. I want you to be happy for me and him." Rory is humbled by Primrose's kind words about him.

Katniss gets up and grabs her father's hunting jacket and grabs her bow and arrows from the closet and silently leaves through the back door.

Primrose goes to Rory. "That didn't go well, did it?" he asks.

Primrose smiles. "Actually, it went better than I expected. "

Rory is confused. Peeta finally speaks. "Prim is right. When she leaves to go hunting after something important like this, it usually means she just needs some time to sort it out in her head."

Peeta continues, "Rory, it's no secret that I despise your brother Gale. "

Rory nods in understanding.

"I realize that not everyone in a family is made from the same mold. Katniss was her father's daughter. While Primrose is more her mother's daughter. I certainly am nothing like my mother - who was an evil witch."

Rory is sure that he is right about that one.

Peeta sits down and runs his hand through his blond curls. "You have to understand that if you two stay together and get married, Gale will continue to be intertwined in our lives. He'll be there for your wedding. If a baby miraculously comes your way, he'll be there for the christening. He'll come to other family events – funerals, graduations, hospitalizations."

Rory hadn't considered that.

"Thank God you don't look much like your brother. I don't think I could stomach looking at you if you looked alike." Peeta rises and announces, "I'm going home."

After Peeta leaves, Rory comes to the conclusion that the worst is over.

He and Primrose collapse onto the couch. He puts his arm around her and she lays her head on his shoulder. He absentmindedly plays with one of her curls.

Finally the curiosity gets the better of him. "Hey Rosie, how do you know that they have never, um, uh, done it?"

"Oh, I know what that sounds like and I've never heard that sound coming out of her room – ever."

Rory sits up and smiles and says "how do you know what it sounds like?"

She smiles back and says, "When we were in District 13, our next door neighbors did it four times a week. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9:45 p.m. and at 6:15 a.m. on Sunday mornings – like clockwork. They weren't shy about expressing themselves – if you know what I mean. "

"Oh, really and who were your neighbors? Anybody I know?"

The next day, Rory decides to stop by Primrose's office before going home. The door is open and as he walks in, he sees her on a stool on her tiptoes trying to reach something on the top shelf. He quietly walks up behind her and easily gets the item she is reaching for. This startles her and she steps back off the stool right on to Rory's foot.

"Ouch," he cries out.

She punches him in the arm.

"Ouch," he cries out again. "What was that for?"

"Don't sneak up and scare me like that."

They both laugh and then sit down on the couch.

"It's quiet in here today. No patients?"

"The office was closed today. We just got back from the other side of the district."

"We? Did you go with the doctor?"

"No, Katniss took me. There are some patients there that the doctor won't see. Katniss worries about me going long distances. I tire so easily. So walks with me and sometimes she manages to find us a ride. She got us a ride all the way there today and part of the way back."

Rory looks surprised.

"I know you saw some of crazy Katniss yesterday but she's still my sister and she tries to protect me. She does my physical therapy exercises for my arm every day and she takes me the other side of the district when I need to go. She can even manage to dredge up a little bit of charm to get us rides. "

"What patients won't the doctor see over there?"

"Miss Silveria's girls."

"Miss Silveria?" asks an incredulous Rory.

Primrose playfully jabs Rory in the ribs. "You know Miss Silveria?"

"Well, I don't know her personally but everybody has heard of her and her girls."

Primrose is a little more serious now, "The doctor does not approve of the way she and her girls have chosen to make a living and refuses to treat them. I think selling your body for money is sad and emotionally destructive but they are humans and they deserve medical attention when they need it."

"What does Katniss do while you are there?"

"She and Miss Silveria just sit silently on the porch and drink tea. They seem comfortable in each other's company."

Rory tries to imagine Katniss having sweet tea with the madam of a brothel.

Primrose continues, "But today, after I was done, the three of us actually had a very, um, uh, interesting conversation." She turns a little red after this revelation.

"Really? Do tell." Rory teases her.

"Well, it has to do with the conversation we had yesterday after Peeta and Katniss left." She says vaguely.

"Like how to drown out the sound of noisy neighbors?" Rory impishly asks.

"Not exactly. I was trying to help Katniss but I didn't want her to know that."

"How so?"

"Well, I told me Miss Silveria about the women I see here at the clinic. They frequently tell me very personal things. I've noticed that about the half the women I see seem to take real pleasure in their intimate relationships with their husbands but the other half avoid it as much as possible. It doesn't seem to give them what they need."

This is way more personal that Rory expected. He isn't sure how to respond. All he can manage is "Oh."

"So, I told her that I didn't have any personal experience in that area and asked her advice about what I could share with my patients to help them."

Again all he can manage is "Oh."

"I even told her that I heard that a happy life in the bedroom can relieve stress and alleviate some of the symptoms of depression. That the patients who avoided intimacy the most were probably to ones who needed it the most."

Rory can't even manage an 'oh' after this one.

Primrose continues, "She agreed with me. Then she proceeded to give some very vivid and detailed descriptions of, uh, well, what she recommended." Primrose seems very uncomfortable at this point so tries to lead a way out of the conversation.

"What did Katniss do during all of this?"

"She stayed, drank her tea. I could tell she was listening. She even made a joke about it on the way home – Katniss rarely jokes about anything anymore."

"That's good, right?"

"Right."


	8. Chapter 8

Two days later, Rory has just gotten up, when he hears a quick knock on the door and it opens. Primrose comes in and closes the door and just leans up against it. She looks flushed.

"Rosie, what's the matter? Are you all right?" Rory is worried.

"Oh, I just had to get out of there."

"Out of where?"

"The house. It was awful."

Rory goes to hug Primrose. It is then, that he notices that he has no shirt on and is still wearing pajama pants. But he likes the feeling of her face pressed to his bare chest.

"Is something wrong? Did Peeta or Katniss have a really bad episode?"

"Not exactly."

"Well, what happened that was so awful?"

"Can I get a drink of water first?"

"Of course. Why don't I get dressed and we'll make some breakfast and you can tell me about it."

Rory quickly changes, runs a comb through his hair and helps Primrose scramble some eggs. She makes some small talk while they eat. After they wash the dishes, they sit down on the couch.

"So, what happened?"

"Katniss had a nightmare last night – like she does almost every night. I fell back asleep after Peeta calmed her down but I woke up again because I thought she was having another nightmare. But it was no nightmare. It was….it was…."

"It was what?"

Primrose is silent for a minute then she blurts out, "noisy neighbors." She hides her face in his shoulder.

Rory laughs and even Primrose joins him after a moment.

"That's a good thing, right?"

"Right, and luckily, the party was almost over by the time I woke up. But it gets worse."

"Oh?"

"I woke up again early this morning and the neighbors were just starting to get noisy. I couldn't bear the idea of listening to the whole thing so I quietly got up and started to go downstairs."

"And they heard you and they stopped?"

"No, worse. They didn't hear me - and their door was open. My eyes are still burning from the sight."

Rory laughs. He tells her about the time he walked in on Gale and one of his many girlfriends when they were in District 2.

"What am I going to do now? The floodgates have opened. I can't listen to that every night – and every morning. It's my sister for God's sake!"

"Well, either they are going to have to take it over the Peeta's house or we're going to have to put up more insulation in your walls."

They do the farm chores together and he walks Primrose back to her house. Peeta must be at the bakery by now so there is no chance of her overhearing any more noisy neighbors.

Rory then walks straight to the bakery. He goes into the back where Peeta is whistling a happy tune while slathering icing on a cake. The whistling stops when he sees Rory.

"Hawthorne," is his only greeting. He looks back at the cake he is working on and expertly smoothes out the icing.

"Peeta, we have to talk."

"So talk."

"Can we go outside?" Rory doesn't want to talk in front of Peeta's other workers.

"I'm busy here."

"It's important."

Peeta drops the spatula with a clank and wipes his hands on his apron and leads the way out the back door.

"Well?" He asks impatiently.

"Peeta, you and Katniss have to start sleeping at your house at night."

"Hawthorne, first of all, I don't HAVE to do anything. I can sleep anywhere I want. Second of all, why is it any of your business where I sleep? Is it because you want to come over and sleep at Katniss' house with Prim?"

"Of course not. I wouldn't dream of that." Rory struggles with finding a delicate way to tell him but decides just be direct.

"Peeta, I know why you were whistling when I came into the shop just now." Peeta looks confused. "Primrose heard you and Katniss last night – and again this morning." Rory decides not to share the part about how she saw them too.

Peeta looks shocked and says, "That's why she was gone so early this morning. How embarrassing for her." He looks at Rory and just laughs. Rory joins him.

"So, either you need to get Elmund the handyman to put up some serious insulation in Katniss' walls or you need to take it over to your house."

Peeta sits down on the steps and waives Rory over to join him. Finally the ice is broken!

"It was so strange, after all this time. I've been waiting for her to let me know when she was ready. And boy, did she let me know she was ready last night. I couldn't believe it."

"Well, you'll have to thank Miss Silveria and Rosie for that."

"Miss Silveria? What the hell are you talking about?"

Rory proceeds to tell him the story of Primrose and Katniss' visit to the other side of the district earlier in the week.

After the story, they sit silently for a while.

Rory finally says, "How did you know it was me the other day? Hardly anyone recognizes me. Apparently, I've changed quite a bit. But you knew immediately."

Peeta replies , "I keep tabs on all you Hawthornes. Gale is in District 2 acting the hero and behaving like an arrogant ass bedding every pretty girl in sight." Peetra practically spits venom in his description but Rory doesn't disagree with any of it.

He continues more calmly, "Your mother and Posey are in District 1. She is learning dressmaking and she just got engaged to a District 13 widower named Larazo Wilcox. He lost his leg in the rebellion. He's electrician who trying to get a job in the new medicine factory here. He has a daughter named Trixa. She's the same age as Vick and she is learning to be a dressmaker too. Vick is about to be released from a detention facility for boys in District 10. He's been getting until all kinds scrapes since the rebellion ended and your mother hasn't been able to handle him."

Peeta wasn't kidding. "Oh." They sit for a while longer.

Peeta breaks the silence. "Well, Farmer Boy Rory, who arrived 17 months ago and 1/2 acre allotment at the end of Miller's Creek Road, are you going to marry her?"

"Someday, I hope."

"What are you waiting for? It's obvious she adores you. You'd be lucky to have her."

"I would be lucky. But I want her to be sure. I don't want her to regret it later. I couldn't bear it."

"You want_ her_ to be sure? Are _you_ sure?"

"Sure, I'm sure. I just want to give her more time."

"What does she need time for? She's the same age you are. If you're ready, I'll bet she's ready too. Take that girl down to the Hall of Justice and marry her today. Don't wait. You heard her speech to Katniss the other day. You've got to grab onto love when you find it because it is precious."

"But I want the farm to be more self-sufficient. I want to be able to provide for her."

"Well, get some more chickens and I'll buy your eggs for the bakery."

Rory hesitates but decides this is best time to reveal his deception while Peeta is in a good mood. "You already are."

Peeta looks at him blankly for a moment and then playfully punches him in the arm and laughs. "I didn't think Mrs. Flannery looked like a chicken farmer." Then he adds thoughtfully, "Just marry her. The other things will take of themselves."

"You just want me to marry her so you don't have to pay Elmund to insulate the walls at Katniss' house."

They both laugh again.

Rory says, "Maybe if Primrose marries me, Katniss will finally agree to marry you."

"Let's hope so. Let's hope so…."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thanks for the kind reviews. This is my very first fan fiction and I'm enjoying the process immensely. I feel I am weak in both physical descriptions and showing the emotions of the characters. Any suggestions would be appreciated! (Also, if you find a place where I actually got it right, I'd love to hear that too) **

As Peeta goes back into the bakery, Rory notices the lights turning on in Primrose's clinic. He decides to sneak up on her through the back door. He quietly opens the door into the back room. He peers through the door that is slightly ajar that leads to the waiting area in front.

He sees that Primrose is not alone. Katniss has just flopped down on the couch. Her back is towards him. He thinks that Katniss will leave soon and decides to wait her out.

Primrose busies herself around the waiting area as Katniss just sits and looks out the window. Suddenly Katniss leans forward and blurts out, "We did it."

Primrose stops and innocently asks. "You did what?"

"It. You know. Peeta and I did IT."

"Oh?" Primrose pauses, "I think that's a good thing. Don't you?"

"Oh yes! It was a very good thing." Katniss gushes.

Rory is squirming now. It doesn't seem right to be listening in on such a personal conversation. But he can't risk leaving at this point. You could hear a pin drop in here now.

Primrose hugs her sister. "I'm happy for you."

Katniss repeats, "Yes, it was very good - but very impulsive. We weren't prepared."

"Prepared?"

"Oh, Primrose. I don't want a baby."

Katniss, you didn't get pregnant last night."

"Why, because of that old wives tale – the one about not being able to get pregnant the first time? Seriously Prim? Tell that to Linnea Montague. The first time she did it, she ended up with a baby girl nine months later. It'll be just my luck." She changes to Effie Trinket's Capital accent, "May the odds be ever in your favor." She adds sarcastically. "The odds will be in my favor all right. What can I do Prim?"

Prim sits down across from her sister and takes her hand. "Listen to me. I know about this stuff. You and I live in the same house. Our monthly cycle is synced up. That's what happens when women live in the same house. Your monthly flow just ended two days ago, right?"

Katniss nods.

"The first few days after your flow, it is virtually impossible to get pregnant. Most women can't get pregnant for at least five or six days afterwards. There are always exceptions but those are usually women who have very irregular cycles. You and I are like clockwork."

Rory wants to cover his ears. Pregnancy, cycles, monthly flows. Arrrgh. For God's sake, he just wanted to play a little joke on Primrose and he has to hear this.

"Are you sure?"

"I had a patient who was allergic to latex and she couldn't handle the side effects of the hormones in the medications. So we researched the practices of the women in District 10 who don't use traditional birth control for religious reasons. If they are diligent, their methods of cycle tracking are highly effective."

"Ok."

"I can fix you up with some prevention. Do you want something for Peeta or for you?"

"Oh, not for Peeta. I know he wants children. I couldn't ask him to be the one to keep us from having them."

Primrose goes on the explain Katniss' options. Primrose explains that most have a 90 percent or more effectiveness rate.

"Isn't there any that are 100 percent?"

"Well, there's sterilization. But that's not an option for you. They will do it at the District 11 hospital but they won't do it on someone in their 20's. About 80% of women who say they don't want a baby in their 20's later decide they want one. The surgery is hard to undo so they have a blanket policy of not doing them."

Primrose continues. "But there is a medication that I truly believe you can trust. Every six months, time-released capsules can be injected under your skin that prevent pregnancy. I have one set here that I can inject right now if you want. But I don't have any more. We had a patient who got them under unique circumstances. These were left-over. They are very expensive and hard to get."

"I have money and I can use my connections to get more." Katniss says matter-of-factly.

Rory is surprised. Katniss never uses her money or her status as the Mockingjay to get any special privileges. But he can see why she might in this situation.

So Primrose rummages through a locked cabinet and finds what she needs and injects Katniss on the arm.

"So what are you and Farmer Boy using?"

"Oh, Katniss, we're not that far into our relationship yet. I really love him but I want him to be sure that he wants to take me on with all my limitations."

Limitations? Rory thinks. What does she mean?

Katniss echoes his thoughts. "What limitations?"

"You know that I am never going to be 100% recovered from my injuries. I still have problems with fatigue. There is a possibility that my damaged kidney could shut down someday. I only have one eye. They say I'll probably never have children. That's a lot to ask a man to take on."

"You're just being ridiculous. He'd be lucky to have you."

Hear, hear, Rory thinks to himself. At least he and Katniss have that belief in common.

"But, to get back to your question. If he and I ever do it, it will be after we get married. But then, I don't plan to use anything. If there is only a slim possibility of getting pregnant, I don't want to do anything to reduce my odds. Fertility decreases with age. I'm more likely to get pregnant when I am younger."

Katniss ramps up her Effie Trinket Capital accent again, "May the odds be ever in your favor."

They both laugh. It's nice to see and hear Primrose and Katniss have a happy moment. She hugs Primrose and leaves through the front door.

Although he was already under the impression that she wanted to wait until marriage, Rory now has clarity about the future of their intimate life if she ever agrees to marry him.

Rory waits a minute or so and quietly sneaks to the back door and slams it loudly and pretends he has just entered. "Rosie?"

"Hey, Rory." He hugs her tight and kisses her sweetly. Luckily she doesn't question why he has come in through the back door.

She breaks free and says, "I have to go and catch Katniss. She was just here and I forgot to tell her something."

They both go to the front door and stand out on the porch. "I can't see her. I wonder where she went so fast."

At that moment Peeta's two assistants come out of the front door of the bakery and Rory hears pots and pans clanging loudly in the bakery. "What's going on? Is Peeta all right?"

They just shrug their shoulders. "He just told us to get out and take the rest of the day off."

Primrose gives Rory a worried look. They decide to go in to see if Peeta is having a flashback.

When they enter the kitchen, they see Peeta picking Katniss up and sitting her down on the counter. She has her legs around his waist. Their lips are locked together.

Rory whispers, "It's going to get noisy in here." Primrose puts her hand over her mouth so her giggles won't interrupt the moment. The noisy neighbor bit is still funny.

He notices that a pot is boiling on the stove and that the ovens are still on. He touches Primrose's shoulder and then he points to the stove. He whispers, "I'll turn off the ovens if you turn off the stove." She nods and steps over the pots and pans that were knocked down. They quietly do their tasks. Peeta and Katniss continue their frantic kissing and seem oblivious to their presence.

Primrose and Rory leave the bakery, lock the front door and put the closed sign up. Rory fans himself. "That was making me hot - and I'm not talking about the ovens."

He then takes Primrose in his arms and passionately kisses her and she returns the heat.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N I've been WAAAAAY too hard on Gale! Thank you reviewers for pointing that out to me. I guess I just needed a villain and he was convenient. I needed to either, show early on in the story that he was more complicit in the bombings that originally thought, or made their feelings more appropriate to the situation. That's why reviews are so important to authors. We sometimes get caught up in our story and don't see the bigger picture. Thanks! I'll rethink the beginning chapters and update when I come up with a better way to work that plotline. BTW - There is forgiveness in a future chapter.**

**90% of this story is already written. That's why I have been able to post a chapter every day. It may be a few days before I post again, so I can rethink and possibly revise my first few chapters.  
**

Two months later, Rory is awakened from a sound sleep by loud knocking at his door. He groggily gets up and rubs his eyes. He was up most of the night with a goat who was having troubled kidding. Healthy twins were born but the mother died. He almost trips over the box that the two kids are in as he walks through the living room. They were sleeping. But this infernal knocking is going to wake them up.

Rory answers the door in his pajamas and his hair is a fright. It doesn't register right away who is standing there.

"Hey, Rory. I thought farmers got up with the sun." After hearing the voice and a few more seconds of staring, Rory has a revelation.

"Vick! Is it really you?" Rory is stunned to see his younger brother standing in front of him. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" He hugs his brother. Rory calculates in his head that it has been more than a year and half since he seen him. He'd grown taller – significantly taller than Rory. He could probably look Gale in the eye.

After releasing him, he notices a beautiful dark-skinned girl with almond eyes.

"Who's this?" Rory asks his brother.

"This is Trixa."

"Larazo's daughter?"

Thinking back, he remembered seeing her when they lived in District 13. She was just a girl then. She looks all grown up now. His mother didn't start spending time with her father until after he had left for his military service in the rebellion.

"Where's everyone else? Mom, Posey, Larazo?" Rory assumed that if these two were here, everyone came with them.

"They're not here." Rory is confused. Why would these two come alone?

"Can we come in and sit down? Trixa is tired and she's not feeling well."

"Of course." Rory has a bad feeling about this.

Rory tells them to make themselves at home while he goes to change his clothes. When he comes out, Trixa is sitting on the couch holding one of the kids and feeding it from a bottle that he had left on the table. Vick is in the kitchen trying to rustle up something for lunch.

"What's going on Vick?" Rory whispers when he enters the kitchen.

"Can we talk about it after we eat?"

Rory agrees and takes over feeding the kids while they eat. Vick asks Rory if Trixa can go lay down in his bed and Rory agrees. After she goes in, Rory drags Vick outside and waits to hear the explanation while he is going about his chores.

"Well….?" Rory asks impatiently.

Vick won't look at him. Rory continues, "Is she not feeling well because she ate some bad food or she has a cold or is it some other reason?"

Vick looks guilty and quietly says, "some other reason."

"When is the baby coming?" demands Rory.

"Four and a half months."

"For God's sake, Vick. You're only 17! Do mom and Larazo know?" Vick nods yes. "Do they know where you are right now?" He shakes his head no. Rory doesn't say anything more about it. He just gives Vick some chores to do.

He goes into the house to check on the kids. He can hear Trixa vomiting through the closed door. His anger subsides a bit. He feels a bit sorry for the girl. Being around Primrose, he's picked up a few things about the pregnancy experience and realizes she probably shouldn't be having so much nausea at this point. It is usually only at the beginning.

He goes over and asks Mrs. Flannery to give Primrose a note when she goes into town this morning.

Primrose arrives a few hours later. He explains the situation and Primrose goes into the bedroom to look after the girl. Rory has Vick out splitting logs.

Primrose comes out to talk to Rory. "I think her nausea is just from the long train ride and the rich food they serve. I've given her something to calm her stomach and I'll give you a list of foods that should sit well like plain rice and dry toast. Just make sure she has plenty of water. I think she'll be fine in a day or two."

Just then Vick walks in the door. Primrose goes pale when she sees him and just sits down on the couch.

"Rosie, are you ok?" It's almost as if she has seen a ghost.

She doesn't speak at first. Finally she says, "He looks so much like Gale." She begins to cry.

Rory hugs her tight. Vick is flustered.

It takes Primrose a minute to recover but does. She apologizes for her rude behavior.

"Vick, this is Primrose Everdeen." This time it's Vick who sits down - his turn to be surprised. He didn't recognize her either. He realizes that her reaction is to be expected. He's heard the rumors about Gale being responsible for the attack on the children at the palace.

Trixia comes out of the bedroom to join them. She is looking a little better already. She sits down next to Primrose and leans over and lays her head on her shoulder. Primrose just puts her arms around the girl and talks to her.

"Rory, will you and Vick make us some dinner? Make sure there's a few things on the list for Trixia."

"While we do that, will you two feed the kids?" asks Rory.

The girls gladly take on the task and they talk and laugh like they are best friends as they do their job.

Rory decides to discuss logistics while they are getting things together for dinner. "Vick, you and Trixia are welcome to stay here for now. But my little house is not big enough for 3 adults – let alone 3 adults and a baby." Rory thinks he is using the term adults a little loosely, but these two have taken on an adult responsibility.

"I can feed you from the farm for now but I don't have extra money for the things you'll need for yourselves and especially for the baby. What are you going to do for money?" Rory hates to be so brutal so quickly but he knows he has to get his brother to comprehend the gravity of their situation.

"I don't know." Well, at least he's honest.

"What do you like to do? What were you good at in school?" Rory knows Vick wasn't much of a student but he's at a loss to know how to help him.

Vick thinks for minute. "I liked the woodworking classes we had at the detention center. I was getting putting good when my time was up."

"That's good." Rory thinks they can work with this. Vick wasn't very capable with most of the farm chores they did today but he was strong and split more logs in an hour than Rory could do in a half day. Like Gale could do.

Soon dinner was ready and the kids were back in their box napping.

Trixia makes an offer, "Rory, if you can get me some fabric, I can make you some new cushion covers for your couch and some real curtains for your windows. I was in seamstress training with your mom before we left."

Primrose smiles. Rory knows why. She's been nagging him to get rid of the old sheets that he had nailed up to the window frame when he moved in. And even he had to admit that the faded fabric on the couch looked terrible. The sturdy wooden frame was still in excellent shape and a little stain and new cushions would make it look like new. That gets the wheels turning inside Rory's head.

"I've got an idea. Do you remember old man Turner?"

Vick is thinking back. "Yeah, I think so. He made furniture."

"Yes, and he taught his son the trade but his son died during the bombings. He has no one to pass on his skills to. Maybe we can convince him to take you on as a sort of an apprentice. You and Trixia could work together. She can do upholstery."

The group decides it's a plan worth pursuing but soon Trixia starts looking droopy. Primrose offers to help her get ready for bed. But she doesn't come back. Rory softly knocks on the door but there is no answer. He finally peeks in and sees the two of them on the bed. Trixia is snuggled up to Primrose like a child would snuggle with a parent. She looks so young. Primrose looks so content in her sleep. It's kind of sad in a way. Primrose should be the one having a baby not this immature teenage runaway. Life's not fair sometimes.

Rory finds Vick standing next to him. "Well, Buddy, looks like I get the couch and you get the floor."

"Great…." says Vick pathetically.

Rory thinks ahead and realizes that Vick and Trixia will be taking over his bedroom and he is going to be stuck with the couch and the 'noisy neighbors.' He and Primrose will have one more thing in common.


	11. Chapter 11

Two weeks later, Rory shows up at Primrose's clinic. He walks in, closes the door and leans up against the door dramatically and says, "I just had to get out of there."

Primrose doesn't catch on immediately. "Out of where?"

Rory stifles a smile. "The house. I just couldn't stand it anymore. It was just awful."

Primrose looks at him strangely and then it hits her. It wasn't that long ago, she was the one moaning these pathetic words at his house. "Noisy neighbors?"

"Oh, yeah." They both laugh and sit down on the couch.

"Sorry, no sympathy here. I've taken to sleeping on the couch downstairs so I don't have to listen."

"Well, I don't have a downstairs to go to!"

"They'll be out soon. Miss Silveria says she has contacts in the Hall of Justice. Whoever it is, is getting them a house soon. She says she owes me a big one."

"Does she owe you for helping her girls or for turning Katniss into a noisy neighbor?" He asks with a grin.

"Both!"

Rory glances over and sees a couple of boxes in the corner. The top one is open and has baby clothes in it. "What's all that?"

"I've been going around to mothers who've told me they don't plan on having any more children and asked for their outgrown items. Everyone usually gives me at least one thing."

"I got old man Turner to agree to take on Vick if we can figure out a way to get him the tools he needs. I just don't have the money. I'm not sure what to do. I tried to talk Larazo into springing for them but he still really mad at both of them."

"He'll probably come around after the baby is born. I've seen it before. Grandchildren tend to soften parental anger."

"You're probably right. I know my mom isn't going to be able to stay away."

"What about Gale?" Primrose says quietly.

"What _about_ Gale?" Rory asks with surprise.

"He's got money. He doesn't have a wife or heavy financial commitments. He could afford to do this for Vick. I know he is the reason why your family survived after your father died but he certainly hasn't been there for him since the rebellion began. His military commitments have always been more important."

"Well, I don't think he'll come through if I ask or if Vick asks."

"How about me?"

Rory is stunned by this. "You're going to call him and speak to him? Really?"

Rory sees the pain on her face. "I don't know if I can speak to him but I certainly could write him a letter."

"You don't have to do this."

"I want to. I adore Trixa. She's only been here a few weeks but we become best of friends. She lost her mom about the same age I lost my dad."

Rory remembers back when they spoke about loneliness. Rory gently pulls Primrose's head down onto his shoulder and then takes her hand. They just sit quietly for a while.

Finally Primrose says, "They're getting married on the day they get their house. I'm going to ask Peeta to make a cake."

"What about us?" Rory asks tentatively

"What _abou_t us?"

"When are we going to get married?" Rory has broached this topic before but Primrose always puts him off. It's obvious they are in love. He doesn't see any reason to wait any longer.

Primrose doesn't answer right away. This is crushing for him.

"I, I….I was just hoping Katniss and Peeta would get married first."

"What if Katniss never agrees? I know you love her but you shouldn't put your life on hold for her. You already lost a year of your life being a coma and not having your memory." Rory is upset now.

"I'll think about it. I promise we'll talk about it after Vick and Trixia get married."

"Promise?" Rory is not very hopeful.

"Promise." She says firmly.

They just sit in silence for a while. Rory tries to think of anything except his frustration, but he is not very successful. Shortly, a patient arrives and that's Rory's cue to leave. He's not in the mood to kiss her goodbye and doesn't.

Rory starts to trudge home disappointed. He has a sudden change of heart and he changes course. He ends up at Katniss' door. He knocks hard. Hopefully she's not out hunting. He knows she doesn't usually answer the door so he decides to walk in.

"Katniss," he yells a little more forcefully that he intended. But he continues, "Katniss? Katniss, are you home? I need to speak you. Now."

Katniss appears at the top of the stairs. Rory doesn't wait for her to speak. "Katniss, I need to talk to you."

She comes down and sits down. "So talk already."

"I need you to do something for me – and for Primrose." She doesn't say anything so he continues. "I've asked your sister to marry me several times. She keeps putting me off. You want to know why?"

"Why?"

"You."

"What about me?"

"She says she won't marry me until you marry Peeta."

"Oh, for God's sake. That's ridiculous. Me not marrying Peeta is no reason to stop her."

Rory doesn't say anything for a while and neither does Katniss.

"Katniss, Peeta and Primrose are the two people who love you the most. They don't ask much from you. Can't you give both of them this one thing? Please?"

Katniss doesn't say anything. Rory listens to the clock ticking. He's going to wait her out. After 15 minutes, Katniss suddenly jumps up. "Come on." She says. Rory is not sure what is going to happen next. He follows her out the door and down to the bakery.

"Peeta." Katniss yells when they enter. Peeta peeks his head out of the kitchen, flour on his cheek and flecks of chocolate frosting in his hair. His eyes light up when he sees her. Rory is still in awe of how much that man loves this woman.

"Hey, Katniss, what do you need?" His tone is so loving. Rory takes note.

"Can you come with me?"

"Sure, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

"Ok." He takes off his apron and tells his workers that he is leaving.

She takes his hand and leads him next door. She asks Primrose to come with her as well. Rory has no idea what Katniss is up to but decides to trust her.

Katniss leads to way down the block turning at the main intersection. Rory and Primrose follow behind. Primrose whispers to Rory, "Where are we going?" He shrugs. He really has no idea.

They end up in front of the Hall of Justice. Rory can't believe it. She's going to do it! Right here, right now. Not very romantic but it's a huge step for her. He's a little choked up.

Peeta and Primrose haven't quite caught on yet. After she looks up at the building for a moment Katniss says, "Come on." She leads them up the steps. They end up standing outside the license office. Peeta is grinning. Rory becomes even more choked up over Peeta's happiness. But Primrose is still in the dark. She asks, "What's going on? Why are we here?"

Katniss responds, "You're my witness."

"Witness?" Rory and Peeta are amused by her denseness.

"Silly girl. My marriage witness."

Primrose almost tackles Katniss. Katniss tolerates this for about 30 seconds but gruffly exclaims, "If you don't calm down, I'm leaving without doing this."

Primrose lets go and hugs Peeta instead. The staff quickly prepares the appropriate form and they both sign it and Rory and Primrose sign as witnesses. It's done. Rory can't believe it. She's had so many breakthroughs in the last few months. But this has to be one of the biggest.

Katniss turns around and looks at Primrose. "Now, what about you?"

Rory immediately knows what she means but Primrose is clueless. "Me?"

"You were my witness. I'll be yours."

Rory looks expectantly at Primrose but she doesn't say anything. Rory was hoping she would jump at the chance. He's a little disappointed. But Peeta comes to the rescue.

"You know, Primrose, if you want to wear a nice dress, get some flowers and have other witnesses and have a party, you and Rory can do this another day. You and Katniss can plan it all out."

Primrose looks back and forth at her sister, Peeta and Rory. Rory decides to let her have some think time. Maybe she really wants the party and pretty dress. That's not an unreasonable thing for a girl to ask for on her wedding day.

Finally, she says, "No."

Rory is crestfallen. Primrose sees his expression and grabs his hand and exclaims, "I meant, no, I don't want the dress and the party. Let's do it right now."

The actual signings are a blur.

Rory has been on a roller coaster of emotions all day. Irritation at his brother's intrusions on his life, frustration over Primrose's continued refusals of marriage, anger at Katniss for begin the cause of the refusals, confusion over Katniss' reaction to his anger, happiness for Peeta who finally got his wish, that momentary sadness when he thought Primrose was refusing him again and now, finally, joy.

On the way out of the building, Primrose stops at the postal box and pulls a letter out of her bag. Before she can put it in the slot, Rory grabs her hand. "Are you sure?" Primrose just looks at the letter and nods solemnly. But before she puts it in the slot, she digs around in her bag and finds a pen. She scratches out the name Everdeen on the returned address and writes in Hawthorne.

Primrose Hawthorne! That makes Rory's heart sing. She firmly pushes the envelope through the slot and she grabs Rory's hand as they leave

The four of them walk back down to Katniss's and Peeta's street. They pass some kids playing and Katniss stops dead in the middle of the road. The other three stop to see what's going on. Katniss just slows looks back and forth at her house on one side of the street and Peeta's on the other.

"What's the matter?" Peeta asks.

Katniss doesn't answer so Peeta patiently waits.

During the quiet, Primrose puts her arms around Rory's neck and quietly asks , "Now what?"

It's only two words but they are powerful. Are they going to spend their wedding night together? – If so, where? Where are they going to live? And so many more questions. Right now, the more important question is the wedding night one. This is a no- win situation for Rory.

"I have to go back to the farm to do my evening chores," he responds simply.

"And you have to be up early to do the morning ones." Primrose acknowledges.

"You could come over to my house," Rory suggests lamely. He knows that's not the answer.

"Trixa is as big as a house. She needs to be in the bed, not on the couch. And, and….I don't want to be the noisy neighbor."

"Noisy neighbor?" Peeta and Katniss repeat in unison. Obviously, they've overheard. Peeta adds, "What the hell is a noisy neighbor?"

Rory and Primrose start laughing at their inside joke. Rory finally says, "We're not telling." The laughter relieves much of the tension of his emotional day and even the dilemma of the moment.

"Well, let us know when you two figure out what you're going to do. We're going inside." Peeta reaches for Katniss' hand. She grabs on but they start pulling in opposite directions and lose their grip. Rory could tell that Peeta was heading towards Katniss' house but Katniss was heading towards Peeta's. He looks at her. She just points her shoulder towards his house. He doesn't say anything. He just grabs her hand and walks up the steps with her.

Peeta stops at the top and whispers something to Katniss. She nods and goes inside. He looks through his pockets and finds a recipe notepad and tears on a slip and runs back down to the street . "Primrose, I saw you with a pen earlier. Can I borrow it?"

"Probably." She digs around and quickly comes up with it.

"Turn around," he orders Rory. Rory does as requested and he can feel Peeta writing a note on the paper on his back.

When he is finished, he whistles to the kids down the street and asks them to come over. He hands them each a coin from his pocket. "You can have this money and all the cookies you can eat at my bakery tomorrow if you will go down to the end of Miller's Creek Road and deliver this note to the man who is staying there."

The two boys think this is a great deal and take off before Rory can stop them. "Peeta, what did the note say?"

"Vick, do the evening and morning chores. Rory will back tomorrow. You owe him." Short, and to the point.

Primrose laughs. "Well, he does owe you – he owes you a lot!"

Rory is hesitant. Vick hasn't taken well to the farm chores but he knows basically what to do and how to do it. Trixa enjoys milking the goats and has been doing the evening milkings for a few weeks. She's been bottle feeding the orphan kids since she arrived.

"Ok." But he is suddenly nervous. This is his wedding night!

Primrose seems very calm about it all. She suggests making dinner and they do. She eats with gusto but Rory doesn't have much of an appetite.

They have a long discussion about whether they should sleep in her little twin bed or the large bed in Katniss' room. Primrose thinks Katniss' bed is the better choice but Rory feels weird about it. They compromise by bringing the other twin bed from the guest bedroom into Primrose's room and pushing them together and putting a big comforter over both.

It's so strange. He's the one who's been pushing for the marriage and now that it has finally happened, she seems to be the one who is more sanguine about it.

But a couple of hours later, they are laying quietly in bed in each other's arms. Rory is stroking his wife's hair. He has trouble thinking of a word that describes how he feels. The best he can come up with is content.

He dozes off. But he awakens a while later and is a little disoriented. He then he remembers that he is in Primrose's room. Primrose! Where is she?

He notices that the curtains are open. They weren't open when he went to bed. He gets up to close them and looks out and to see Katniss sitting on the swing on Peeta's front porch. He sees Primrose walking across the street in her fluffy bathrobe and slippers. She sits down next to Katniss and pulls her feet up and scrunches into her older sister. Katniss puts her arm around Primrose's shoulder and they swing and talk. He looks at Primrose's face and the word he would use to describe her right now is content as well.

He opens the window to call out to her but Peeta steps out onto the porch at the moment. The girls squeal "No boys allowed. Girls only!" They laugh and Peeta makes a silly pouting face.

So Rory yells out, "come on over Peeta, I'll talk to you." He laughs.

Peeta walks across the street as Rory struggles to put his dirty work pants and shirt back on. He has nothing else to wear here. By the time he gets downstairs, Peeta has found himself something to drink in Katniss' kitchen and offers Rory one. He accepts and they go out to sit on the swing on Katniss' porch.

"To marriage," Peeta says he holds out his bottle towards Rory. Rory clinks the bottom edge of his bottle onto Peeta's.

"To marriage," he responds.

After their impromptu toast, the two sit in silence as they gaze over at their wives, talking and laughing across the street.

"You stink." Peeta says after a while.

Rory looks at his work clothes and says, "I know."

Peeta then says, "How did you do it?"

Rory is confused. He hopes Peeta isn't asking about what just went on in the bedroom.

"Do what?"

"Get Katniss to marry me."

Rory feels like this is a loaded question but he decides to play it straight. "I just told her the truth – that Rosie wouldn't marry me unless she married you."

Peeta puts his bottle down and puts his head between his knees. Oh, uh. Rory realizes he probably said the wrong thing - but it's the truth.

"She did it for Prim but not for me. That's my life – two steps forward and one step back."

Rory understands how Peeta must feel and thinks over the day's events. He comes to a startling conclusion.

"Peeta the most important thing that happened today wasn't what happened at the Hall of Justice."

"It wasn't?"

"No! The most important thing that happened today is what happened right out there in the middle of that street." Rory gestures with his bottle to the spot they stopped at when they came home today.

"I don't understand."

"She had a choice when she came home. Her house or your house." Rory pauses for moment to let this sink in. "She chose yours."

Peeta slowly raises his head and leans back into his seat to consider this. After a minute or so, he whispers to himself, "She chose mine."

Rory says, "When the bigwigs at the Hall of Justice figure out that you two are married, they 're going to make one of you give up your house. She just told you right then and there, that she's giving up hers and moving in with you. That piece of paper at the courthouse was just a piece of paper to her but out on the street she made a commitment – a commitment to you."

Rory looks over and sees Peeta's eyes looking watery.

Rory continues, "It'll be a fresh start. Maybe she can even leave some of her ghosts here in this house."

Peeta just nods.


	12. Chapter 12

Trixa to the rescue! Having an almost-sister-in-law from District 13 can be an advantage sometimes. Schedules and making plans are her forte. She lays it all out. Vick will do all the morning chores before he goes to work with Mr. Turner at 9:00. Rory will arrive by 9:00 and work the rest of the day. He'll leave after he completes his evening chores and then go to Katniss' house to eat dinner and spend the night with Primrose.

A week later, when Rory arrives at Katniss' house, he finds one large box and two smaller boxes almost blocking the doorway. They're addressed to Primrose Hawthorne.

"Rosie, what are the boxes outside?"

His wife – he just loves that – his wife is in the kitchen starting some dinner preparations.

"I don't know. I just got home myself. I couldn't figure out a way to open them. They're packaged so sturdily. I wonder how they got here. The mail carrier wouldn't have been able to deliver packages like that."

"Do you want me to open them?"

"Not right now. I'm really tired and I need some help with dinner."

Rory makes his wife sit down to chop some vegetables and he does most of the cooking. She perks up after she eats.

Peeta saunters in after their dinner and asks about the packages. "A neighbor said she saw a military vehicle deliver them."

Rory and Primrose just look at each other. They both realize what these packages are and where they came from.

Neither one of them wants to tell Peeta that they're from Gale. Finally Rory speaks. "These are the tools that Vick needs to apprentice with Old Man Turner." Rory decides less is more and doesn't offer any more details. But Peeta doesn't leave it alone.

"Why did a military truck deliver it?"

Primrose says, "They're from Gale. I asked him and obviously he agreed."

Peeta can hardly speak at this point. "You asked Gale?" he finally spits out.

"Peeta, nothing is going to bring back the year of despair that Katniss lived through when she thought I died. Nothing is going to bring back the year _I_ lost in the hospital - or my eye - or my ability to have children. Nothing! But, if Gale is responsible, he can do things to atone for it."

She continues defiantly, "I didn't ask anything for me. This was for Vick and Trixa and their baby. There's nothing that I want from Gale for myself. And I will _never_ ask Gale for something for myself. Because there is nothing he can give me that will make a difference. Not a damn thing. But if he helps his brother – who really needs the help – because I ask him and because he feels guilty – so be it."

Wow. His wife is a fighter. He knows how hard it was for her to ask for this and how hard it must be to justify it to Peeta. Peeta just sits down and rubs his head over and over.

Finally he says, "Don't tell Katniss."

"Damn it Peeta. Quit it. Quit trying to shelter her from everything. She can handle this. As a matter of fact, I'm going to go over and tell her right now." Primrose is fuming now. "She's moving forward. "She's grown. Give her a chance to stretch."

Rory grabs her arm as she tries to leave. "Stop it Rory. I'm going over there right now."

Rory holds on and calmly says, "Why don't you let Peeta bring her over and we'll all tell her together and ask her to help us open the box." Primrose acquiesces and Peeta agrees - against his better judgment.

Rory is almost as worried as Peeta about Katniss' reaction to this gift. But Primrose obviously knows her sister well. Katniss' handles the news well. She even assists in opening the first box.

As predicted, it is all the tools that Vick needs and then some. They open one of the smaller boxes and find a state-of-the-art sewing machine with all the bells and whistles – obviously for Trixa. They open the third and final box. It contains three identically wrapped gifts. One for Peeta and Katniss, one for Rory and Primrose and one for Vick and Trixa. It's obvious that these are wedding gifts. He must have someone at the Hall of Justice feeding him information because Katniss and Peeta haven't told anyone that they are married.

Rory worries that this is going to put her over the edge. But Katniss just ignores it and walks out the door. Peeta says to Primrose, "You were right and I was wrong." And he follows his wife across the street to their home. Rory wonders if this will affect her nightmares tonight. What was it that Peeta said before? Two steps forward and one step back.

Primrose ignores the gifts as well and just goes upstairs.

Well, it is obvious that he is going to have to be the one to deal with them. He looks more closely at the wedding gifts. He notices a large label on the end of each box with name of an exclusive home furnishing store. Based on the size and shapes of the boxes, he assumes they are probably lamps or vases. They were probably picked out by Gale's newest flame – probably a Capital girl. They are probably something gaudy and way over the top.

He considers just packaging them up and sending them back but has another thought. Maybe Miss Silveria can use them. He laughs at the thought.

Even though Primrose and Katniss don't want their wedding gifts, Rory decides to bring the third gift that was intended for Vick and Trixa to them. He knows he doesn't have the right to decide for them. They decide to refuse the gift as well. To Miss Silveria then. He's sure they'll be just right for her entrance or sitting room.


	13. Chapter 13

Mrs. Flannery has been busy. She has convinced Mrs. Pakinnow to move in with her sister – since she lives all alone now. Her house will be empty soon. After some negotiations with the bureaucrats at the Hall of Justice – and some arm twisting behind the scenes by Miss Silveria – it's been announced that Trixa and Vick can be assigned the house.

Rory is glad about this. Vick can be an immature pain in his ass but Primrose has become quite attached to Trixa and vice versa. It'll be nice for Primrose to have a friend so close by. Even Rory admits that he sometimes enjoys spending time with Vick – even if it is just to tease him. And boy, is that kid strong. He's good for the heaving lifting when needed.

In spending time with Vick, he has learned that his little brother wasn't as much of a trouble maker as his mother made him out to be. Just a lot of stupid kid stuff. Like breaking into the neighborhood pool hall while the owner was out of town so he and his friends could play pool. They didn't steal or break anything. Most of his other infractions were in a similar vein. But it upset and frustrated his mom to no end. So she sent him off to the detention center.

That Trixa sure is a worker bee. Despite her advanced state of pregnancy, she has managed to spruce up Rory's house, reorganize his pantry, cabinets, and dresser drawers. She charmed Mrs. Pakinnow into teaching her how to cook. That woman may not be able to get along with her own children but she sure can cook. Of course, while Trixa is there, she takes measurements for curtains, rugs and furniture when Mrs. Pakinnow's back is turned.

She's even managed to find some time to spend with Peeta learning about baking. She also convinced Primrose and Katniss to take her over to meet Miss Silveria to get some tips for the bedroom. Even they got a giggle out of giving Gale's gifts to Miss Silvera.

Sometimes he gets the impression that Trixa thinks she's the lucky one getting a young man as handsome, strong and charismatic as Vick. The comparisons to Gale are not unwarranted. But Rory believes that Vick is actually the lucky one is this relationship.

She has even come up with a work schedule for Rory to follow. Before, he just did things as they came up or whatever he was in the mood for. Her schedule helps him complete more work in less time. So he can spend more time fixing up his house and adding more rooms so he can have Primrose move in. The bigwigs at the Hall of Justice are making noises about her moving out so they can reassign the house - probably to one of the managers of the new medicine factory.

"Are you looking forward to your mother's arrival?" Primrose asks Vick and Rory at a dinner that - yes - Trixa scheduled. Rory is unsure how to answer that.

Vick answers honestly. "Not really. She and Larazo are going to give me hell."

"Can I give you some advice – you and Trixa?" asks Primrose.

"Advice?" asks Vick.

"Sure." Says Trixa.

"Admit to her and Larazo that you were stupid. Just come out with it up front. There's nothing they can do with that. If you go in defiantly or defensively, they're just going to argue with you and try to convince that they were right and you were wrong." Rory sees the wisdom in this.

His wife continues, "People deal better with the truth. They can't argue with the truth. And the truth is, you were stupid."

Yeah! thinks Rory. Vick looks kind of glum.

"We were pretty stupid." Trixa admits.

"That will deflate a lot of the anger. This baby," Primrose rubs Trixa's large stomach, "is going to diffuse most of the rest."

Rory decides to rescue Vick a little. "You've got a house, you're learning a trade, you've gotten married. They can't ask much more of you than that – other than an admission of guilt and an apology. It'll be mostly water under the bridge after that. And by the way, thanks for taking some of the heat off of me for marrying Primrose without telling her first."

"Anything to help you out." Vick says dryly.

Trixa suddenly gets a panicked look on her face. "Oh, no."

Vick grabs her hand, "What's wrong honey?"

"I think my water just broke."

This baby isn't due for three more weeks but Primrose jumps into action. The next few hours are blur. But soon he and Vick hear the magic words. "It's a girl!" Vick is a dad and Rory is an uncle. It's so weird. But he is captivated by his niece. Trixa says she looks a lot like her late mother. She's so tiny. Well this is the first thing that Trixa hasn't scheduled – well except for the whole getting pregnant thing in the first place.

In District 13, there is a tradition of not picking a baby's name until after the baby is born. The first name is usually a unique name, something the family makes up. No one ever picks the same name as anyone else. But the middle name is the opposite. It is usually one of two things. The middle name is chosen to honor a wise person the parents admire or it is name that is descriptive of an attribute they hope to inspire in their child.

Everyone is surprised by this. Rory says, "You District 13 people are so organized, I would think you would have two names picked out and ready to go on schedule."

"You'd think so, huh?" Trixa responds. "I asked my dad about it once. He said it was one of the only traditions they kept from before the Bad Times."

Rory asks, "So, what's it going to be?"

"I wanted to pick a unique name for her, but I also wanted to name her after my mother." Explains Trixa. "My mother's name was Meerlan. So Vick suggested a variation of that - Meerlaiyn. We don't usually do variations in District 13 but we live in District 12 now. I thought it was perfect."

She smiles at Vick who is sitting next to her holding his new baby girl.

"But we haven't come up with a middle name yet."

"What's your middle name?" asks Primrose.

"Amore." She responds.

"Tell us why."

"My parents hoped that I would be a loving person. They found an ancient text and found this word from an old language that means love."

Vick leans over and kisses his wife. "Well, it suits you."

"Thanks sweetie."

"So what have you discussed?" asks Rory.

Vick responds. "I want her to be strong and to be able to stand up for herself." Good for him, thinks Rory.

"And I want her to be a person who does the right thing, even when that thing might be difficult," adds Trixa.

"We haven't been able to come up with a word that embodies those qualities that we like yet."

Primrose asks, "Can you name her after a person who embodies those qualities?"

"Sure," answers Trixa. "Did you have someone in mind?"

"No, but I'll think about it."

Vick say, "We'll all think about. We'll come up with something."

Later that day, Rory and Primrose see Katniss and Peeta at the bakery and they stop in to have a treat and talk. They ask about the baby and Primrose tells them about the naming tradition and about the young couple's desires for the girl's middle name.

They chat some more until Peeta blurts out, "Johanna."

"What?" they all say.

He answers in a choked up voice, "The baby's middle name should be Johanna."

Katniss gently puts her hand on Peeta's arm. "Why Johanna?" she asks gently. Rory is surprised by this role reversal. Usually Peeta is the gentle one consoling her. But he gets the impression that she knows exactly why he picked that name.

Peeta can barely choke out the words, "Because she was strong and she did the right thing." He suddenly gets up and rushes to the kitchen. They all get up but Katniss tells them that she can handle this. She calmly follows Peeta.

"Who was Johanna?" asks Rory. He realizes she must be someone very important .

Primrose knows immediately. "Johanna Mason – from the Quarter Quell."

"Was she the one who was removed Katniss' tracker and was captured and tortured with Peeta?"

"That's the one. She has no family. Most former winners never get married or have children and she probably won't either."

Later that afternoon, Rory stops by to see Vick, Trixa and Meerlaiyn before going home. Trixa and Merlaiyn are asleep. Vick is moved by Rory's story and asks him to take him to go see Peeta. When they arrive at Peeta's house, Katniss answers the door.

"Katniss, I'd like to speak to Peeta, please." Asks Vick politely when they get there.

"I don't know if that's a good idea. He's had one horrible flashback today – probably the worst in months. He's ok now but I don't think he's up to seeing Gale, Jr. here – no offense."

"None taken. But tell Peeta, when he feels better, that I'd like to see him."

Rory is sad to hear about Peeta's flashback but wasn't surprised. But he is surprised that she is able to make of joke out of Vick's similarity to Gale. Two steps forward. Hopefully, there won't be a step back today. Actually, he doesn't think there will be. She's being strong for Peeta today. Who knows about tomorrow?

"I'll talk to him." It's Peeta's voice in the background. He sounds tired and drained. Obviously he has overheard.

Katniss allows them through the door and they sit down.

Vick simply says," Tell me about Johanna, Peeta."

So Peeta tells him everything he remembers about her. Her bravery, sacrifice, brashness, tenacity, cunningness, even her wicked sense of humor. He tells some things that even Katniss doesn't know about her.

By the time he is done, Peeta looks refreshed – renewed if you will. Rory believes that sharing all the good things about Johanna was a good way for him to recover from the flashback.

Peeta then says, "Vick, you don't have to name your daughter after her. You and your wife don't even know her. But I'm glad that I know her."

Vick responds. "Trixa got to choose the first name and she said I would have the final say for the middle name. Johanna is my final say. Her spirit is everything I would hope for a daughter – well - except for the whole riding the elevator naked part."

Good call Vick. End on a happy note.

Peeta says, "Get me a picture of the baby and I'll send her a letter with the story. She'll act like she hates it. But I'll bet there'll be a small part of her that is touched."

"Can I write the letter? I want her to hear from me why I did this."

"Sure."

"Thank you, for seeing me and thank you for sharing this with me. It means a lot."

Katniss takes them to the door and whispers, "Thank you. That's just what he needed."

Rory has learned a lot today. He thought their relationship was much more one-sided. But he's glimpsed the other side for once and it was amazing. How much this woman loves that man.


	14. Chapter 14

On the three month anniversary of Meerlaiyn's birth, a naming party is held – another District 13 tradition. Vick and Trixa invite Johanna to come and surprisingly, she accepts.

She acts like she is just there to visit Katniss and Peeta and she makes jokes about the poor kid being saddled with her name but underneath it she seems genuinely honored. Rory is so glad that Vick did this. Of course it means a lot to Johanna, but it also means a lot to Peeta and Katniss.

Vick and Rory's mother and sister Posey have arrived along with Trixa's father Larazo. It's so strange to see her mother with a man. But he is happy for her.

But underneath, his heart is breaking for Primrose. She'd suffered a miscarriage the week before. She hadn't told anyone but him and was only eight weeks along. But she was doing a great job of putting on a smiling face for the family. She says that happens a lot and that we should be hopeful. At least she got pregnant. Right? But can she stay that way is the question. She says she wants to keep trying.

It doesn't help when people keep coming over to ask when it will be their turn for a baby. That's probably what Primrose is wondering inside her head right now.

Five months later, another miscarriage and again 6 months after that. That one happened two weeks after Trixa had another baby. A boy this time.

And so the years go by. Three or four miscarriages a year and Trixa having a baby every other year. No one ever knowing except Rory.

The doctor recommends that she take a break from these serial pregnancies and miscarriages. "Her body needs a rest." Rory thinks her psyche needs a rest as well. So she takes his advice and starts on the same time released caplets that Katniss is using. It will be better for her not to have to think once a day about preventing a pregnancy that she really wants.

Rory actually enjoys the reprieve from the emotional toll. He is even able to convince her to put in a packet to become adoptive parents. The counselor is kind but she tells them the truth about the odds of getting a child – slim to none.

A year or so later, Rory returns home from the market to find a military vehicle in front of his house. This can't be good. As he gets closer, he sees several boxes on the ground next to the vehicle. What's Gale up to?

"Can I help you?" Rory asks the officer standing outside the vehicle. He hopes they can get this over with quickly - get whatever is in the boxes back on the vehicle and get them back to wherever they came from.

"I've been instructed to give you this letter from Commander Hawthorne."

"You can tell Gale that we don't need whatever this is." Rory doesn't even bother to use his brother's military title. He continues, "And you can load all this back on the truck and go back to your base."

The officer starts out in his best military voice. "Sorry I can't do that. I've been ordered to have you read this letter, show you the reason for this delivery, and for you to sign one of the two documents in this envelope. Then I can go."

The officer pauses and adds more conversationally, "You may as well just read it. I really can't leave until you do."

Rory realizes that this man just has his orders. "How about if I just sign both of the papers and you go on your way?"

"How about this? I'll just show you the reason and you can decide if you want to read the letter. Then you can sign."

"Let's get it over with." Rory can't imagine what Gale has sent.

The officer opens the vehicle door and a uniformed nurse steps out with a baby. A very tiny baby with red hair. What the hell?

The nurse hands him the baby. Luckily he's had lots of practice with Vick's kids. This is all so confusing! The baby is sleeping so he carefully hoists it up to his shoulder.

"Do either of you know what this is about?"

The officer responds. "Honestly, we don't. You know as much as we do. Although I think there is a bunch of baby stuff in these boxes."

"Well, I guess I am going to have to read the letter after all."

"Yes, sir."

"Well, open the envelope for me. I've got my hands full."

The officer opens the envelope and unfolds the letter and hands to Rory's free hand. He gently sways with the baby as he reads. He reads it once but has trouble comprehending it. He sits down on the steps to reread it twice.

He looks at the officer. "Let me have the other envelope." The office opens the envelope and hands Rory the two papers. Rory and Primrose have to sign either one or the other.

"My wife and I both have to sign one of these papers. She's not home right now. Why don't you go into town and go to the diner and get something to eat. Come back in two hours."

The officer hesitates and looks at the boxes on the ground. "Leave the boxes. I promise I will be here when you come back and one of your papers will be signed. Just leave me some things for the baby."

The nurse gives him the baby bag. "We've been waiting here a long time. We are kind of hungry."

The officer and the nurse leave. Rory goes inside to change the baby who has awoken and is starting to fuss. He lays the baby on the bed to change the diaper. He studies the face and he can see the resemblance.

He hears Primrose before she even opens the door. "Rory! I saw that military vehicle driving down the road and I see those boxes out there. What is Gale up to now?"

The baby starts to whimper at the commotion. Rory picks it up and turns around. "Shhhh, the baby."

Primrose stops in her tracks. She was just at Trixa and Vick's house so she knows that it isn't one of theirs.

"What's going on Rory?"

"Come here and sit down. Hold the baby. I'll get the bottle."

Primrose is confused but one look at the baby's face and she can't help but start cooing and baby talking. She fingers the wisps of soft red hair on her head. Rory hands her the bottle and the baby suckles hungrily when it is offered.

After a moment, Primrose looks up and commands, "Talk. What's Gale got to do with this baby?"

"Well, as we suspected, I think he has an insider in the Hall of Justice because he seems to know that we submitted an adoption package last year."

Primrose's eyes widen. "Rory, this is a black market baby isn't it? Did he _buy_ us a baby? It's wrong, it's against the law and I won't participate."

"No, no, Rosie. He didn't buy this baby."

"How can you know for sure?"

Rory finds the letter. "You need to read this letter from Gale. It explains everything."

Primrose looks at the baby she is feeding. "You read it to me."

Rory decides this is a good idea. Maybe hearing it will make it easier to comprehend.

"Dear Primrose and Rory,

I'm writing to you from a hospital in the Capital. I've just spent the last hour looking at the most beautiful face in the world. If you're reading this then you've seen that face too.

The mother of this baby is a District 10 girl who is a fashion model that works in the Capital. When she found herself pregnant, she couldn't bring herself to terminate the pregnancy due to her religious background. She may have had objections to termination but she has absolutely no interest in raising the baby. She signed the papers to terminate her rights. She agreed to allow you to have the baby if you wish but she has selected a couple in District 1 as a back-up, if you decide against it."

Primrose interrupts, "I thought this wasn't a black market baby. It's obvious he has paid this girl to give it to us."

"No, he didn't Rosie. Let me continue."

"Ok." She says doubtfully.

"She deserves parents who would move heaven and earth to love her and protect her. She deserves grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who will dote on her and put her in the center of their universe. She deserves to be raised in a town with neighbors who know each other and look out for one another. She should go to school and want to learn and want to be a self-sufficient, contributing member to her family, community and district.

She shouldn't be raised in this shallow universe of self-absorbed people in the Capital or even District 1. Status, fashion, entertainment and obsession with one's appearance shouldn't be her life.

You may be wondering about her father. I heard that he has been described as a self-important, arrogant ass who is out bedding every pretty girl in sight. I can't say that I disagree with that assessment of him. Just one hour ago he signed away his parental rights to his deserving, self-sacrificing brother and his amazing, resilient wife.

You two deserve every happiness and if anyone should be parents, it should be you two.

I've had to make a lot of really difficult decisions over the years but this is, by far, the most difficult. I've regretted some of those decisions but I know I will never regret this one."

Rory still can't believe it and it's the fourth time he has read it. Primrose is silent.

"Rosie, we have to make a decision today. We have to sign the paper accepting parental rights or we have to sign the paper allowing the couple in District 1 to adopt her. They'll be back in two hours to put her on the train."

Primrose is still silent. This is obviously a lot for her to think about. She gets up and hands him the baby and goes outside. Rory cradles the baby in his arms and follows her. He can't get a read on what she is thinking or feeling.

Finally he says, "She looks just like Posey – you know - when she was a baby."

Primrose smiles slightly and looks at the baby's face. She whispers, "I think you're right. I think I can see a little bit of Posey." She looks away off into the distance.

He doesn't need to remind her that the adoption people said it would probably be at least five years before they move high enough up on the list – maybe longer – maybe never. There aren't that many girls who give up babies in District 12 and most girls in other districts won't allow their babies to be sent out to, what they consider, the backwoods.

"Rosie, I'm leaving this decision up to you. But I want to say one thing. I remember you saying once that you would never ask Gale for anything for yourself. You didn't ask Gale for this."

She still has no response. So he tries something else. "Do you want to talk to Katniss first?"

Primrose just nods her head. "Do want me and the baby to come with you?"

"Yes."

They grab the letter and walk to Peeta's house. By the time they get there the baby is getting a little heavy in Rory's arms. Peeta answers the door. He immediately sees the baby and asks a barrage of questions, "Who's this? Can I hold her? Look at that red hair. Are you babysitting someone's baby today?"

"Not exactly. Is Katniss home?"

"I'm right here." Katniss emerges from the kitchen wiping her hands on a dish towel. Peeta raises his to indicate that he wants to hold the baby so Rory hands her over to him.

Rory explains, "Rosie needs your help making a decision."

Peeta sits down cradling the baby in his arms and asks, "What's the baby's name?"

Rory responds, "She doesn't have one yet."

Peeta looks confused. After everyone sits down, Rory reads the letter again and explains the time crunch. As he reads, Peeta just plays with the baby's tiny hands and gently touches the red hair on her head.

"Tell me what to do Katniss." Primrose begs.

"Don't lay this on me!" exclaims Katniss. "I can't be the deciding factor in this situation. You have to do what is best for you." She turns to Rory. "What do you want to do?"

"I think we should keep her, but I told Rosie that it is up to her."

Primrose doesn't respond to this. She just gets up and stares out the window. Katniss comes to join her.

"Nobody asked my opinion," Peeta pipes up.

Rory isn't sure he wants to hear Peeta's opinion - considering his feelings about Gale.

"Ok. What do you think?" asks Primrose

"I think you're an idiot Prim." Uh,oh thinks Rory. He knew this was a bad idea.

Primrose quickly turns around.

Peeta continues, "If complete strangers had allowed you to adopt this baby, you wouldn't hesitate. It doesn't matter where she came from. Accept her, cherish her, love her and thank God you have her."

Hallelujah! Peeta comes through.

Primrose bursts into tears and after a few moments says, "Thanks Peeta. I think that's what I needed to hear."

Katniss hugs her sister. "You're a mom!"

Peeta asks, "why do you suppose she has red hair? None of you Hawthorne's have red hair."

Rory thinks for a minute, "My mom once told me that both of her grandmothers were redheads. She always wished she'd had red hair. The district 10 girl must have red hair or redheads in her family tree too."

Peeta then asks, "Can I ask one thing?"

"Sure."

"Remember what Trixa told us about the District 13 tradition of giving a baby a meaningful middle name?"

"You have an idea?"

"Yes – but you don't have to take it. It's more meaningful to me than it will be to you. Never mind. Forget it."

Primrose sits down on the couch next to Peeta and lays her head on his shoulder and caresses the baby's tiny fingers. "Well, tell me anyway. I'm curious."

Peeta remains silent. Katniss finally comes and kneels down in front of Peeta. "Fern?" Peeta just nods.

"What is the significance of that name?"

"Fern was the girl I called Foxface in the 74th Hunger Games." Katniss replies as Peeta continues to finger her red hair.

Rory understands the significance of this. The red hair is reminder of her – the only person Peeta killed in the 74th games. He knows that Peeta feels responsible for her death even though it was an accident.

Peeta finally speaks. "She was an only child being raised by her grandmother. She wanted to be a nurse before she was reaped. Her birthday was December 15th."

Rory is not surprised that Peeta has learned so much about this girl. She must figure heavily in his flashbacks.

Unfortunately, they don't have much time to talk because they need to get back to the house to meet the officer and to sign the appropriate paper.

Rory's hand trembles as he holds the pen. This is so amazing, scary, joyful and at least 23 other emotions. After they finish signing, the officer has a question.

"Do you want the boxes?"

Primrose says, "I'll leave that one up to you but I'm ok with accepting them if you are."

Whew! Cribs, highchairs, and the other things are expensive. He doesn't have any moral dilemma about taking it.

"We'll keep it all – and thanks for being patient with us."

"No problem. I'll stay and help you put the crib together if you want. They can be kind of tricky. I'm an expert – I've got five kids."

While they put together the crib, the nurse helps Primrose open the other boxes. They're full of clothes, diapers, formula, toys and more.

The nurse and officer have to leave in order to catch their train. Rory and Primrose lay their baby in her new crib and just stand and stare forever. They debate first names for a while. They had never gotten far enough into a pregnancy to discuss names. Primrose briefly considers the name Rue but quickly discards the idea. She has hope that Katniss will come around someday. A decision doesn't have to be made today.

The next item of business is how much to tell people about the origin of the baby. They decide that Katniss, Peeta, Primrose's mother, Vick, Trixa, Hazelle, Larazo and Posey are the only ones to know and they will be sworn to secrecy. Everyone else will be told that it was a private, closed adoption.

Rory and Rosie are exhausted after their first three days as parents. Exhausted but happy. New parents normally have nine months to prepare themselves. They had two hours. Luckily they had a lot of practice on Meerlaiyn and her younger brothers.

Everyone is nagging them about a name. Nothing they come up with seems just right. The entire family is at Vick and Trixa's house. They're a large group now and everyone has name suggestions. As the discussion continues, Rory notices that Primrose is very quiet – almost lost in her thoughts.

She whispers to Rory, "I think I have the right name now."

Rory shushes everyone. "Primrose says she thinks she's come up with _the_ name."

"I know you are going be shocked by my choice but I think it's appropriate under the circumstances." Rory wonders what can be so shocking about the name she's chosen. He and the rest of the family wait expectantly.

"Her name will be Abigail."

Shocking is putting it mildly. No one knows what to say. Although, Rory notices his mother starting to tear up.

Finally Rory says gently, "Why?"

"Before the Dark Days, it is said that the basis of the legal system was that a person was innocent until proven guilty. None of us here today knows what Gale knew about what happened at the Mansion. None of us will ever know – except for Gale. But he is your son," Primrose pauses to acknowledge Hazelle "and he is your brother," she looks one at time at Vick, Posey and Rory. "He gave us all, this beautiful gift. She's a daughter, a granddaughter, a niece, a cousin. It was a huge sacrifice – I know I couldn't have done it. The name is an acknowledgement of that. He is a part of her and a part of all of us."

She pauses and raises her glass, "To Abigail Fern," she toasts.

"To Abigail Fern," they all toast.


	15. Chapter 15

Rory is glad he doesn't have to continue counting the years by miscarriages. Although Primrose has discontinued her birth control and they continue to happen at a rate of about 3 a year, it doesn't pain him nearly as much. Abby is enough for him and Primrose doesn't seem to suffer as much each time either.

"More, Daddy! Faster, Daddy!" Abby squeals as Rory spins her around. He looks over at Vick with a pile of boys on him and Peeta playing with Meerlaiyn. Luhan is chasing his two little boys around a tree.

"Daddy needs to take a rest, sweetie. I'm getting dizzy." Rory lays down on the grass and Abby lays down on top of him. "I'm dizzy too." She says with a giggle.

Rory looks down the road and sees his little sister Posey walking up with a teenage boy and a little girl. The little girl runs up and yells for Meerlaiyn. The two girls hug and Peeta lets her join in their little game.

Rory says "Hello, Posey. Who's your friend here?" Although they had never spoken, he knew who the teen was but wanted an introduction from his sister. "Hi Aunt Posey!" Says Abby.

"Hey, Squirt! This is Emmet. His sister Amalia asked to come and play with Meerlaiyn."

"I want to play with them too!" Abby jumps off and runs to join Peeta and the other girls.

Rory gets up just as two of Vick's boys come running. "Uncle Rory, come on, help us tackle Daddy."

"I'm going to get a drink. Why don't you get Posey's friend Emmet to do it?"

The boys drag Emmet off with them. Rory puts his arm around Posey's neck and walks with her to where the women are sitting down on a picnic blanket. "Is he your boyfriend?" He asks pointedly.

"No! Really. He lives down the street. His dad works on Saturdays and he babysits his sister. When I walked by, he asked me where I was going. When Amalia heard, she asked if she could come and I said yes. That's all."

"Uh, huh. Sure…." He teases her.

She sticks out her tongue at him, laughs and sits down with Primrose, Katniss, Seidy and Trixa. Trixa's latest additions – twins – are with her – one on nursing on her breast and one sleeping on the blanket. Rory goes into the house and gets a cold drink and sits down on the couch near the window. He decides to take a break from the picnic. This is his busiest time of the year and he is tired.

He can overhear the women. They are also teasing Posey about Emmet. She's sticking to her 'he just my neighbor' story. He can hear the guys playing loudly with the kids in the distance.

Primrose says, "Trixa, you've got seven small children and one very large one. Vick is such kid. Doesn't he drive you crazy sometimes?" Rory wonders the same thing sometimes.

"Not at all. That's one of the things I love most about him. I live the childhood I should have had through him."

"What does that mean?"

She goes on to explain how regimented a District 13 childhood is.

Seidy jumps in. "Luhan told me how they scheduled playtime and rationed crayons and paper." Rory remembers back to their time there. The children did seem very subdued – almost stifled.

"I love my schedules but Vick makes it all fun. Mealtimes for me are about sustenance, nutrition and calories. Vick is about family togetherness. He'll take his sandwich apart and make it into a clown face. The kids join in, laugh and they eat. I might be a little messy sometimes but it only takes one extra minute to clean up and doesn't impact my schedule."

Rory thinks back to the calorie adjusted slop they ate at District 13 and the antiseptic cafeteria they ate it in.

"After bath time, I have a half an hour of quiet time on the schedule so the kids can wind down before they go to bed. If I'm doing it, it's looking at books or coloring. For Vick, that's the time to drag the dining room chairs into the living room and move the couch and drape blankets and sheets over them and create a fort or castle. They crawl in, lay on their pillows and he makes up nonsensical stories. After the kids are in bed, it takes us two minutes to put the chairs and blankets away."

That's sounds like something they used to do when they were kids – when their dad was still alive. Rory had forgotten about that - back in the Seam, hungry and cold but finding a little joy at bedtime with his brothers and their father.

"I suppose you schedule sex too?" teases Katniss.

"You bet!" responds Trixa. Rory smiles. Somehow he is not surprised. He remembered Primrose's story about her District 13 noisy neighbors on Monday, Wednesday, Friday nights and Sunday morning.

"9:15 every night or 6:00 in the morning." Every night and every morning! No wonder they have seven kids!

Katniss echoes his thoughts, "Really? Every morning and night?"

Seidy clears her throat and interrupts. "Do you think this an appropriate conversation for a 17 year old?" Good point, thinks Rory.

"Sure!" says Trixa and Katniss almost at the same time.

Katniss explains, "The repopulation commission is encouraging young marriage and lots of children in order to grow the population. If they had their way, she'd be married the day she turns 18 and has her first baby by 19. Damn bureaucrats." He can hear the frustration in her voice. But he understands the position of the commission. There wasn't a large population in Panem before the rebellion but many lives were lost during the fighting – mostly civilian. But that doesn't mean he wants his little sister married on her 18th birthday either.

"What do you think Primrose?" asks Seidy.

There's a long pause. He can't believe she is considering this question! Of course it's inappropriate.

"I think she's old enough. Let's just not get graphic – if you know what I mean." He hits his hand on the side of his head. Rosie, Rosie, Rosie! He was going to have a chat with her when he gets home.

Trixa continues her original thought, "We have it scheduled every morning and every night but that doesn't mean we do it 14 times a week. But Vick knows I'm available at those times."

Primrose asks, "Seidy, do you and Luhan have a schedule?"

Rory can hear the embarrassment in her voice as she responds, "Yes, but it's personal."

"Sorry. We didn't mean to intrude. Of course you don't have to share the details."

Trixa says, "Miss Silveria taught me that it's such an important part of marriage. I wanted to make it a priority."

"Miss Silveria?" asks an astonished Posey. Holy crap. he thought they weren't going to get graphic

"Sure. She's an expert on marriage. Most of her clients are married. She says most of them are nice men – they are just unhappily married. She's learned a lot from them about what makes a good marriage."

"So, what is Miss Silveria's expert opinion?" asks Primrose. He can hear the smile in her voice.

"She says men are not very complex. They need a comfortable home to come home to, good meals, a wife who appreciates him and the closeness that sex brings to a relationship."

"A comfortable home? What does that mean?" asks Katniss

"Clean, calm, pleasant looking. He doesn't want to come home to dirty dishes piled high in the sink, clean clothes all over the couch, toys everywhere – things like that. He needs to feel it's his sanctuary from the pressures of the work world. My schedules helps keep it clean. Peeta helped me choose paint colors and gave me some paintings. I'm not very good with the decorating stuff. You know – District 13 gray is my go-to color. But I got help from somebody who is."

Rory actually agrees with that. Luckily he and Primrose work together to keep it clean and they had fun choosing colors and decorations to make it look nice.

Posey asks, "You cook every meal?"

"He gets a hot breakfast every morning and I work hard to have a good dinner every night. Lunch is more casual. That's why I got Mrs. Pakinnow to teach me to cook and Peeta to bake."

Primrose asks, "How do you show him that you appreciate him?"

"I brag about him – mostly to you guys and always in front of him."

"Can you give me an example?"

"Oh, Primrose. Look at these window boxes that Vick put in this week. Aren't they so cute? He worked so hard on them. He's going to start a stone pathway for me next week. I can't believe how he finds the time." Rory remembers that exact statement coming out of her mouth when they arrived today. It almost sounds calculated and manipulative. But he remembers how proud Vick looked as she was saying all that.

"And that works?" asks Posey. Rory is wondering the same thing.

"Absolutely. And I lead him right to what I want him to do next. Besides that, I really do appreciate how hard he works. There's nothing wrong with me sharing with others. And as far as the sex part goes – I'm just going to say that it is frequent and that I make sure we both enjoy it and that I can't emphasize enough how important it is."

"Well, you two sure seem happy." Says Seidy. Rory couldn't agree with that more.

Rory decides to go out the back way to join the guys and the kids. As he comes out the kids are all running around the corner to join their mothers for a dessert. The guys stay out back and it quickly turns into an interrogation of Emmet.

"So, Emmet," Rory can hear the tinge of mischief in Vick's voice, "tell us the real story."

Luhan plays along, "Yeah, what's really going on here?"

"Uh, what do you mean?" the flustered young man responds.

Vick puts his arm around Emmet's neck. "Come on. We were all 17 once."

Emmet interrupts, "I'm almost 19."

Vick continues "We were all 18 once. No 18 year old boy takes his little sister one mile down Miller's Creek Road just to visit her little friend. Does he? Guys?" He looks around with sly smile to Rory and the others.

Peeta, Luhan and Rory just shake their heads no trying hard to not to smile.

Rory jumps in, "No he doesn't but he does go because because a cute girl is going. Right? Posey is cute, isn't she?"

"Yes." He answers with downcast eyes. Rory feels a little sorry for him so he takes the interrogation in another direction.

"Emmet, I know you dad does electronics repairs. What do you do?"

He looks relieved "I work for my dad but I also repair engines and I'm learning about cars. We don't have many cars around here yet but I think we will eventually. I want to be able to fix them."

Rory is surprised. This boy actually has ambition and gumption. "You and your family moved here from District 3 didn't you?"

"Yes, our house and my dad's business were lost during the rebellion. They made him a good offer to come here. A new house and the opportunity to be the only electronic expert in this District. That wasn't going to happen back in District 3. We were pretty much refugees."

Peeta adds, "His dad comes into the bakery all the time. He seems like a really nice guy. They spoil the little girl a bit much though. I think he said your mom died. Is that right?"

Luhan asks, "Was it during the rebellion?"

"No, she died in childbirth with Amalia. We didn't have many doctors or midwifes – like your wife - in District 3."

"You two have raised her alone?" asks a surprised Rory.

"Yeah. And you're right, we do spoil her sometimes."

"I was just kidding," says Peeta.

Vick redirects the conversation, "So back to Posey. What's up with you two? Huh?"

"Nothing is up. She just wants to be friends." Just friends. He sounds so sad.

"But you don't?"

"To be honest, no. But her interests lie elsewhere."

"Where is that?"

"Nic Widmark."

Vick explodes, "Nic Widmark! That smart-ass jerk?"

"Uh, that's the one."

"Nic Widmark, isn't he the one who moved from District 7 and owns the lumber yard? He's got to be at least 45 years old." Exclaims Luhan.

"No that's Nic senior."

Vick says, "Well Senior is a real ass too. The apple didn't fall too far from that tree. I have deal with them all the time to get the wood I need to make my furniture."

Emmet continues, "All the girls are infatuated with him. He dates them and then dumps them. The worst part is is that they all want him back and wonder what they did wrong. Argh. He makes me want to puke!"

Rory says, "Well that just won't do. We're going to have do something here."

No one says anything for a minute. Then Peeta says, "Well, we're just going to have to distract her with something else aren't we?"

"Or someone?" asks Luhan

Emmet takes a minute to catch on. "Me? I already told you, she's not interested."

"Well, we're just going to have help you out." Says Rory.

"Really? How?" The kid sounds so excited. Rory is not exactly thrilled about playing matchmaker for his sister but avoiding Nic was paramount here and Emmet's not so bad.

"Well, she's not going to listen to us." They all agree on that one.

"Well, it's ladies to the rescue. Let's go."

Vick gets Posey to take the twins inside to change their diapers and then they quickly explain the Nic Widmark situation to their wives and ask for assistance and then disappear before Posey's return. Of course, they decide to spy on them so they double back around the house and sneak inside to the living room to listen through the open windows.

"So, Posey, my spies tell me that you have a crush on Nic Widmark. Is that true?" asks Primrose

"How did you know that?"

"My sources are confidential. Is it true?"

"Yes." Rory is disappointed. He was hoping it wasn't true.

"What's special about him?" Rory can hear how neutral she is trying to sound.

"Well, he's cute and he's so, so, I don't know - confident. He just commands attention. I can't explain it exactly. But all the girls like him. He's not interested in me." Rory thinks, maybe not now, but eventually he's going to run through enough girls until he gets to her.

Emmet looks so downtrodden. He hopes the wives get Posey turned around soon. It's torturing the poor boy to hear her talk about this jerk.

"Who is he going out with now?" asks Seidy.

"Hattie Longfellow."

"Can I ask you a hypothetical question?"

"Sure."

"Let's say we can look into the future and Nic is married to Hattie and you're married to…uh, for argument's sake… your friend Emmet."

"Ok"

"So you both have one kid and now you're pregnant again. Swollen feet, hemorrhoids, sore breasts." Oh, not again, with too much information. Ick.

"What does Nic say to Hattie when he comes home from work?"

"What do you mean?"

"Does he ask how she's feeling? Offer to help with dinner? Try to find something to compliment her about?"

"Or does he comment on how much weight she has gained or demand dinner immediately?"

"Uh, I'm not sure."

"Well, what would Emmet do when he comes home to you?"

"That's easy. Emmet's great. He would rub my feet and help with dinner. He would only say nice things."

"What do you think Nic would say after Hattie gave birth to three girls in a row? No sons in sight?"

"He seems like the type to want to have a house full of boys."

"And what if he gets that house full of boys. Hattie's been home all day taking care of them. But their energy is overwhelming. She needs Nic to take them out and play with them and give her break. Do you think he would do that?"

"He would probably tell her that it's her job to take care of the kids."

"How would Emmet handle having three girls in row?"

"Well, he's guy and most guys want a son but he wouldn't be upset about having another girl. I'm sure he would love her just the same."

"And how would he handle the house full of boys?"

"Like Vick, I suppose. Take them outside and play with them and give me a break. Ok, Ok. I see where you're going with this. Nic is handsome but he can be pretty self-centered. He might be fun for a little while but he's not someone to consider for the long-term."

"We're not trying to tell you what to do. We just want you to be happy." Good play Primrose!

Trixa says, "Remember, what we talked about earlier? Is Nic the kind of guy you want to make a nice comfortable home with? Will you be happy cooking great meals for him? Will he do things for you that you will want to brag about to others?"

Please don't talk about the sex stuff, please don't talk about the sex stuff. Rory begs in his mind - to no avail. "Is he the kind of guy, you would look forward going to bed with night after night after night?"

He can see Emmet turning red. Ugh.

Posey finally says, "Those are important things to think about. I promise I will."

Peeta gets the guys attention and they go out the back door and walk around the house to join their wives. When they arrive he says, "Posey, will you take Emmet down to Rory's farm to get some things I need, please?"

"Ok, I guess."

Peeta gives them a list of things he wants. Rory figures this is a ruse to get Posey and Emmet alone for a while. Before they leave, he sees Peeta whisper something in Emmet's ear. After they leave, Rory asks, "What did you tell him?"

"Be confident. Take a risk." Probably good advice.

They are gone for quite a while. Rory and Katniss bring some things into the kitchen. The window there has a great view of the road and they see Emmet and Posey walking back. He can see them laughing. Posey even playfully bumps him on purpose and almost causes him to lose his balance. She runs ahead and he chases her. When he catches up, he puts the items he brought down on the ground and grabs her wrist and pulls her in tight. She doesn't pull back. He kisses her. She kisses back briefly but pulls back and looks surprised. But he kisses her again.

Rory is uncomfortable watching this. Part of him wants to go out and break it up. Katniss must be reading his mind because she puts her hand over his to keep him in place at the window.

They watch as things get a little more intense. Emmet pulls her in closer.

"Katniss, come on. I'm going to break this up."

"No, not yet."

"Why not?"

"He's there but she's not quite there yet. Give them a little more time." Rory agonizes while he watches. Posey pulls her arms out from under Emmet's and grabs him around the neck tight without unlocking their lips.

Rory was startled when a metal pan clatters in the sink. Katniss dropped it on purpose. All she says is "She was finally there."

Emmet and Posey are also startled and break apart and begin to laugh.


End file.
